B"H
With another 9/11 anniversary approaching, I find myself thinking of just how far we’ve come, and not in a good way. I remember how, right after the attacks, people were so upset about what had happened, so resolved to prevent its recurrence. I remember how much people wanted the perpetrators punished, the organizations that backed them up and sent them destroyed, the leaders of those organizations made to pay.
But 9/11 seems to have gone the way of the Holocaust; people get brownie points and have photo-ops by attending and speaking at memorial services but no one is doing anything to prevent either from recurring, far from it. The recent release of the Lockerbie bomber and Qadaffi's visit to the Nations-United-Against-Israel-and-the-US (aka the UN) show just how uninterested people are in standing up to and fighting terrorism.
The only way to fight terrorism and terrorist acts is to fight. We can’t back off. We can’t allow any of the terrorist demands to be met. We can’t even appear wishy-washy. We need to stand up to the haters of freedom.
I’ve been reading Cokie Roberts’ book “Founding Mothers”, about the women who helped this country gain our freedom from British tyranny. I wonder what they would think, after being there for so many sacrifices by boys and men and girls and women to win our independence. I wonder what they would think about the world’s tacit capitulation to terror forces, forces we could easily defeat, forces that have proven they have only the “best interests” of a small group of despotic leaders at “heart”. I wonder if the spirits of these “Founding Mothers” are looking down on us from heaven and crying over the squandering of our liberties and the Western world’s autonomy and free-will.
The picture in Europe is bleak. Just about every country in Europe has regions where the Muslim minorities have taken over, suppressing the rights of women, violently suffocating the free will of Muslims and non-Muslims alike, not only in these districts but in their entire countries. People are losing their rights to a free press and free speech as Islamist extremists, who have taken over by spreading fear and panic, riot and murder at the slightest “insult”.
This picture will become even gloomier if we don’t prevent this from happening here in the US. We need to defend our freedom. We need to defend our way of life. We need to defend the free world, the Western world, the world of George Washington and Patrick Henry, of John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin, of Samuel and John Adams, and Eliza Pinckney, Deborah Franklin and Abigail Adams. We need to, as Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, “resolve that these dead [those of the World Trade Center attacks, Lockerby and other terrorist attacks] shall not have died in vain…. That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” We need to preserve our legacy to our children; we need to give them a world where their differences are celebrated, not suppressed. And we need to protect our bequest from our founding fathers and mothers. We need to maintain our oasis of freedom, the place where oppressed people can escape their subjugation; the country of liberty, the country of choice, the country of openness and opportunity.
As our forefathers and mothers learned, this freedom doesn’t come cheaply. And it isn’t defended by weakness and appeasement.
If we don’t prevent it, 9/11 could happen again. Memorial services don’t prevent attacks or genocidal holocausts. Memorial services don’t fight our fights or defend our children. We need to make these memorial services more meaningful by doing battle with our enemies, the perpetrators of these atrocities, and preventing the need for further memorial services. We need to be strong and remember that our children are worth fighting for. And we need to press our leaders to strike at the adversaries of freedom and liberty.
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Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
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Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
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Being an internet small business owner
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Pythagorean Theorem
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Pope Un-Pius
B"H
I guess I was spoiled. The first pope I remember was a good guy. So I guess I expect the Pope, who is supposed to be a holy man, to be something like the Dalai Lama, a spiritual man who loves all humanity. I’m somewhat surprised when the Pope turns out to be a terrible person.
But I really shouldn’t be surprised. This man was a member of the Hitler Youth and no matter how much he puts on the "pope uniform" and no matter who holy he tries to look, he’s just an old Nazi in a Halloween costume.
Though his "visit to the Holy Land" (as the news media have been putting it) started off in less than holy Jordan (as Arab countries go, perhaps Jordan isn’t the worst, but the statement this Islam-loving Jew-hating practice Pope makes by going first to Jordan is very telling), and he’s bending over backwards to kiss the "you-know-whats" of the "ethnically and linguistically identical Arabs popularly referred to as Palestinians", I found something else more offensive than either.
Besides totally putting down Judaism and its role in working for a moral and civilized world (not to mention Judaism’s role in the creation of both Christianity and Islam), which is a slap in the face to Jews and our belief base, this statement implies (or, at least, I infer from it) that secularism is evil and that the Muslims are shining lights of morality in this world.
There are two parts to the world, Ruhniyut (spirituality) and Gashmiyut (the mundane). Without the gashmiyut (the day to day living, our jobs, our cars, our houses, etc.) there can be no ruhniyut. The Talmud says "Im ein Kemah, ein Tora" (if there is no "flour" -- food -- there is no Tora -- no time to learn). The pursuit of parnassa (making a living) is secular for most of us. This is something the Pope does not know. He also doesn’t understand that there are secular people who are good and "spiritual" people who are evil. He doesn’t comprehend the power of goodness to transcend belief in G-d.
Belief or trust in G-d can be the basis of a good life. But so can a strong secular sense of morality. There are many people in this world who live very good, moral lives, treating people with respect, helping others, living their lives by a strong moral code.
Conversely, there are people who claim to believe in G-d who treat others like second-class citizens. Many in the Muslim world treat women, gays and non-Muslims, for example, as subhuman, as not worthy of existence. In the Muslim world, honor killings (murder of daughters, sisters, mothers, nieces, etc. for not following their strict code of subservience or murder of gays just for being gay) are common and rarely punished. Non-Muslims (Jews of course, but Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and any other non-Muslim) are regularly murdered for no reason other than their continued existence. And those who aren’t murdered are stolen from, beaten, cheated, arrested, jailed, tortured. Any Muslim who sells land to a Jew, writes articles condemning honor killings or terrorism, "fraternizes" (romantically or platonically) with non-Muslims, for example, is harassed, beaten, arrested, murdered. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a Bangladeshi journalist, is being tried for treason. His crime? Defending Israel in his newspaper and wanting to visit Israel.
This is not unusual in the repressive Muslim world. We in the United States take it for granted that criticizing the government or anyone else, for that matter, won’t land us in prison and certainly won’t end with us on trial for our lives. But in the demagogic world of Islamists, you never know what could cause the "police" to arrest you or just shoot you. You never know, especially if you are a woman or girl, what word you say, what outfit you might wear, what deed you might do that will wind up with you in jail, tortured or dead.
This is the world the Pope is defending, supporting, kissing up to. This is the evil that the man who represents one billion plus Catholics worldwide and, by extension, two billion plus Christians thinks will be his bastion of religiousness, his ally in G-dliness. These are the suppressive regimes and terror mongers that the Pope has hitched his star (or should I say "black hole") to.
We need to see the Islamist world for what it is. We need to see the Pope for who he is (and not blame the people he purports to represent). We need to fight his unholy alliance. We can’t allow the cowards of the world, the kowtowing governments, media outlets and so-called religious leaders, to put us in any more danger than we are. Just by our existence we anger the Islamists. Sitting back and allowing them to come in and kill us and destroy our way of life is not the answer. We are in a war, a war of words, a war of ideals, a war of ethics. And it’s a war we can’t afford to lose.
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Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
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Passover: Holiday of Freedom
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Pythagorean Theorem
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Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
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[Disclaimer: What I'm saying here should not be interpreted as a "dig" against all Catholics, all popes or the papacy. Just the opposite, I have an enormous respect for Catholics and the papacy. I am reacting to the current pope who has shown his true colors by hobnobbing with the enemy.]
I guess I was spoiled. The first pope I remember was a good guy. So I guess I expect the Pope, who is supposed to be a holy man, to be something like the Dalai Lama, a spiritual man who loves all humanity. I’m somewhat surprised when the Pope turns out to be a terrible person.
But I really shouldn’t be surprised. This man was a member of the Hitler Youth and no matter how much he puts on the "pope uniform" and no matter who holy he tries to look, he’s just an old Nazi in a Halloween costume.
Though his "visit to the Holy Land" (as the news media have been putting it) started off in less than holy Jordan (as Arab countries go, perhaps Jordan isn’t the worst, but the statement this Islam-loving Jew-hating practice Pope makes by going first to Jordan is very telling), and he’s bending over backwards to kiss the "you-know-whats" of the "ethnically and linguistically identical Arabs popularly referred to as Palestinians", I found something else more offensive than either.
"Benedict was full of praise for Islamic faith and culture," wrote Father Raymond J. de Souza for an article in the National Post. Father de Souza added, "Benedict argues for open religious worship and witness precisely because he thinks of Islam as an ally of Christianity in resisting secularization. Religious practice and the role of religion in public life are much more robust in the Arab world than it is in largely secularized Europe." (Quoted in the National Post)
Besides totally putting down Judaism and its role in working for a moral and civilized world (not to mention Judaism’s role in the creation of both Christianity and Islam), which is a slap in the face to Jews and our belief base, this statement implies (or, at least, I infer from it) that secularism is evil and that the Muslims are shining lights of morality in this world.
There are two parts to the world, Ruhniyut (spirituality) and Gashmiyut (the mundane). Without the gashmiyut (the day to day living, our jobs, our cars, our houses, etc.) there can be no ruhniyut. The Talmud says "Im ein Kemah, ein Tora" (if there is no "flour" -- food -- there is no Tora -- no time to learn). The pursuit of parnassa (making a living) is secular for most of us. This is something the Pope does not know. He also doesn’t understand that there are secular people who are good and "spiritual" people who are evil. He doesn’t comprehend the power of goodness to transcend belief in G-d.
Belief or trust in G-d can be the basis of a good life. But so can a strong secular sense of morality. There are many people in this world who live very good, moral lives, treating people with respect, helping others, living their lives by a strong moral code.
Conversely, there are people who claim to believe in G-d who treat others like second-class citizens. Many in the Muslim world treat women, gays and non-Muslims, for example, as subhuman, as not worthy of existence. In the Muslim world, honor killings (murder of daughters, sisters, mothers, nieces, etc. for not following their strict code of subservience or murder of gays just for being gay) are common and rarely punished. Non-Muslims (Jews of course, but Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and any other non-Muslim) are regularly murdered for no reason other than their continued existence. And those who aren’t murdered are stolen from, beaten, cheated, arrested, jailed, tortured. Any Muslim who sells land to a Jew, writes articles condemning honor killings or terrorism, "fraternizes" (romantically or platonically) with non-Muslims, for example, is harassed, beaten, arrested, murdered. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a Bangladeshi journalist, is being tried for treason. His crime? Defending Israel in his newspaper and wanting to visit Israel.
This is not unusual in the repressive Muslim world. We in the United States take it for granted that criticizing the government or anyone else, for that matter, won’t land us in prison and certainly won’t end with us on trial for our lives. But in the demagogic world of Islamists, you never know what could cause the "police" to arrest you or just shoot you. You never know, especially if you are a woman or girl, what word you say, what outfit you might wear, what deed you might do that will wind up with you in jail, tortured or dead.
This is the world the Pope is defending, supporting, kissing up to. This is the evil that the man who represents one billion plus Catholics worldwide and, by extension, two billion plus Christians thinks will be his bastion of religiousness, his ally in G-dliness. These are the suppressive regimes and terror mongers that the Pope has hitched his star (or should I say "black hole") to.
We need to see the Islamist world for what it is. We need to see the Pope for who he is (and not blame the people he purports to represent). We need to fight his unholy alliance. We can’t allow the cowards of the world, the kowtowing governments, media outlets and so-called religious leaders, to put us in any more danger than we are. Just by our existence we anger the Islamists. Sitting back and allowing them to come in and kill us and destroy our way of life is not the answer. We are in a war, a war of words, a war of ideals, a war of ethics. And it’s a war we can’t afford to lose.
Check out my squidoo lenses:
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
Saturday, May 16, 2009
B"H
The first thing the Pope said when he entered Israel was that a Palestinian state should be established. HUH????? I guess he hasn't seen what the "Palestinian Authority" aka the murdering terrorists known as "Hamas" have done to the former Gush Katif (aka the present launching site of explosive shells on population centers for Israel, most notably, but not exclusively, Sderot). Gush Katif was a beautiful area. The Israelis had turned it into a garden spot, literally. This desert community was growing hydroponic organic produce for use all over Israel. And now?????
Haven't the "ethnically identical Arabic people generally referred to as Palestinians" proven beyond a shadow of a doubt (not the trial point of beyond a reasonable doubt, but even further into the "no doubt" area) that they are NOT ready for self-rule, that they are NOT ready for their own country? Haven't these people proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the sole, singular and only reason they want a "Palestinian" state is that they want it instead of Israel?
Really? Wow. What a concept. A group of people totally identical in language, culture (and I use that term VERY loosely), ethnicity, religion, etc. to every other group in the region (EXCEPT for the people in the tiny, eensy-weensy country of Israel, smaller than the state of New Jersey, which is, BTW, 46th in area of the 50 US states, which is peopled by Jews of every race and creed, Christians, Muslims, and other Gentiles also of every race and creed) want to be the ONLY ethnic group in the region, want to remove the ONLY group, tiny as it is, from what they have decided is their land (read: the entire earth.....). So they make up a name using the geographical area's old colonial name, making it seem as though they, not the current residents, are the "True" residents of this ancient land and guess what? The world (especially Europe and the Pope) fall for their c**p hook, line and sinker.
Come on, people, think about it..... Tell me about those "ancient Palestinians" -- Did they speak "Palestinian"? If so, can you tell me a few words of this language??? What did this "once proud" people do? Tell me about their history, literature, way of life.....
What, you can't???? Could that possibly be because the existence of the "Palestinian people" as an ethnically separate people is a myth! That's right. It's a myth.
So stop feeling sorry for these people (except for having their brains and their lives controlled by demagogues who want to keep them in refugee camps so they can use them as a tool to destroy Israel). Stop recommending, calling for, demanding a "Palestinian State". It will only lead to Israel's destruction, and the subjugation of these people by their own leaders. It will also lead to the destruction of the free world as the enemies of peace and freedom become emboldened to complete their "final solution" (which doesn't stop with the Jews) which is the subjugation of the entire world as the world becomes one big Sharia State.
G-d forbid.
Check out my squidoo lenses:
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
The first thing the Pope said when he entered Israel was that a Palestinian state should be established. HUH????? I guess he hasn't seen what the "Palestinian Authority" aka the murdering terrorists known as "Hamas" have done to the former Gush Katif (aka the present launching site of explosive shells on population centers for Israel, most notably, but not exclusively, Sderot). Gush Katif was a beautiful area. The Israelis had turned it into a garden spot, literally. This desert community was growing hydroponic organic produce for use all over Israel. And now?????
Haven't the "ethnically identical Arabic people generally referred to as Palestinians" proven beyond a shadow of a doubt (not the trial point of beyond a reasonable doubt, but even further into the "no doubt" area) that they are NOT ready for self-rule, that they are NOT ready for their own country? Haven't these people proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the sole, singular and only reason they want a "Palestinian" state is that they want it instead of Israel?
Really? Wow. What a concept. A group of people totally identical in language, culture (and I use that term VERY loosely), ethnicity, religion, etc. to every other group in the region (EXCEPT for the people in the tiny, eensy-weensy country of Israel, smaller than the state of New Jersey, which is, BTW, 46th in area of the 50 US states, which is peopled by Jews of every race and creed, Christians, Muslims, and other Gentiles also of every race and creed) want to be the ONLY ethnic group in the region, want to remove the ONLY group, tiny as it is, from what they have decided is their land (read: the entire earth.....). So they make up a name using the geographical area's old colonial name, making it seem as though they, not the current residents, are the "True" residents of this ancient land and guess what? The world (especially Europe and the Pope) fall for their c**p hook, line and sinker.
Come on, people, think about it..... Tell me about those "ancient Palestinians" -- Did they speak "Palestinian"? If so, can you tell me a few words of this language??? What did this "once proud" people do? Tell me about their history, literature, way of life.....
What, you can't???? Could that possibly be because the existence of the "Palestinian people" as an ethnically separate people is a myth! That's right. It's a myth.
So stop feeling sorry for these people (except for having their brains and their lives controlled by demagogues who want to keep them in refugee camps so they can use them as a tool to destroy Israel). Stop recommending, calling for, demanding a "Palestinian State". It will only lead to Israel's destruction, and the subjugation of these people by their own leaders. It will also lead to the destruction of the free world as the enemies of peace and freedom become emboldened to complete their "final solution" (which doesn't stop with the Jews) which is the subjugation of the entire world as the world becomes one big Sharia State.
G-d forbid.
Check out my squidoo lenses:
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Popularity Contest
B"H
Imagine your a teenager. In your class is this very popular young woman. Everyone wants to be like her, everyone wants to be in her circle of friends. People dress like her, people sit near her in classes and at lunch.
She, on the other hand, doesn't even realize how popular she is. Even though she dresses like she just walked out of a Vogue pictorial, she asks her circle of friends every day, "how do I look? Does this outfit look good on me?" She is always looking for validation.
There are a bunch of people who want to be like her, but they don't like her. So whenever she asks one of her inferiority complex questions, they purposely lie to her. They purposely play on her insecurities. They tell her her clothes don't match, they tell her she looks fat, they tell her she's ugly and stupid. And, because of how badly she's been abused over the years by people who were jealous of her brains, beauty and style, she believes them and thinks she's stupid and ugly.
Have any of you known a popular young woman like that? Well, I know two: The US and Israel.
If you go around the world, in just about every country, what do you find? People trying to live like "Americans". Between the jeans, the McDonalds and other fast food restaurants, the elections (that try to emulate our elections here in the US but never quite make it), you can see people want to live like "Americans". But the governments of these countries, from Europe, to South America, to the Middle East and other areas, people criticize every step our government takes. We deserved the 9/11 attacks, these people claim. HUH?????
It's the same with Israel. People come to Israel from Europe to use the mud and swim in the Dead Sea (it's good for their skin). People come to Israel from Christian countries on pilgrimages to Christian shrines and places of interest (which the Israeli government protects, but the PA destroys). People from eastern Asia come to Israel for jobs. And people from other Middle Eastern countries envy Israel's standard of living and freedom and equality for all citizens.
So why are the US and Israel trying to please the world? They are already trying to emulate us. They already think we're the best. Their actions should speak louder than their words.
Why are the US and Israel putting up with the United Nations and their one-sided sanctions? Why doesn't the US kick the UN out of NY? Why is Israel trying to please a world that will never be pleased by her actions?
Let's stop listening to the anti-American crowd. Let's stop listening to the people trying to hide their anti-Jewish feelings behind anti-Israel lies. Let's stop caring what the world thinks of us. They're too envious of our way of life to ever admit they want to be like us.
Check out my squidoo lenses:
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes
Imagine your a teenager. In your class is this very popular young woman. Everyone wants to be like her, everyone wants to be in her circle of friends. People dress like her, people sit near her in classes and at lunch.
She, on the other hand, doesn't even realize how popular she is. Even though she dresses like she just walked out of a Vogue pictorial, she asks her circle of friends every day, "how do I look? Does this outfit look good on me?" She is always looking for validation.
There are a bunch of people who want to be like her, but they don't like her. So whenever she asks one of her inferiority complex questions, they purposely lie to her. They purposely play on her insecurities. They tell her her clothes don't match, they tell her she looks fat, they tell her she's ugly and stupid. And, because of how badly she's been abused over the years by people who were jealous of her brains, beauty and style, she believes them and thinks she's stupid and ugly.
Have any of you known a popular young woman like that? Well, I know two: The US and Israel.
If you go around the world, in just about every country, what do you find? People trying to live like "Americans". Between the jeans, the McDonalds and other fast food restaurants, the elections (that try to emulate our elections here in the US but never quite make it), you can see people want to live like "Americans". But the governments of these countries, from Europe, to South America, to the Middle East and other areas, people criticize every step our government takes. We deserved the 9/11 attacks, these people claim. HUH?????
It's the same with Israel. People come to Israel from Europe to use the mud and swim in the Dead Sea (it's good for their skin). People come to Israel from Christian countries on pilgrimages to Christian shrines and places of interest (which the Israeli government protects, but the PA destroys). People from eastern Asia come to Israel for jobs. And people from other Middle Eastern countries envy Israel's standard of living and freedom and equality for all citizens.
So why are the US and Israel trying to please the world? They are already trying to emulate us. They already think we're the best. Their actions should speak louder than their words.
Why are the US and Israel putting up with the United Nations and their one-sided sanctions? Why doesn't the US kick the UN out of NY? Why is Israel trying to please a world that will never be pleased by her actions?
Let's stop listening to the anti-American crowd. Let's stop listening to the people trying to hide their anti-Jewish feelings behind anti-Israel lies. Let's stop caring what the world thinks of us. They're too envious of our way of life to ever admit they want to be like us.
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Cartoon Insurance
B"H
When did cartoons become so nasty? When did it become ok to project the worst prejudices and the worst lies by hiding behind "art"?
I find it amazing that the "Ethnically/Culturally/Linguistically Identical to every other group of Arabs" commonly referred to as "Palestinians" have managed to pump up the propaganda machine to such an extent that a previously respected in my mind political cartoonist like Oliphant actually believes that Israel protecting her citizens from murdering terrorists is equal to Nazis murdering innocent people (6 million of which were Jews). Personally, I wish that Israel had such a find propaganda machine. I wish Israel could even get people to believe the truth, never mind how well the "Ethnically/Culturally/Linguistically Identical to every other group of Arabs" commonly referred to as "Palestinians" (led, now, by Hamas, but, to be honest, Fata is no better and Abbas is just Arafat in a suit) has gotten the world to believe that:
I have news for you, phony "Liberals" out there. The terrorist conglomerate of the world won't spare you simply because you defend them and hate Israel. The terrorist conglomerate of the world won't spare you simply because you send them extortion money. The terrorist conglomerate of the world won't leave you alone because you create and the support the creation of anti-Jewish anti-Israel political cartoons or op-ed pieces. You will be swept up too if you don't fight back. You will be put in the position of having to defend your body from their invasion. And you will be next.
We Jews are the "canary in the coal mine". We are the ones who get attacked first, but, mark my work, just like Hitler started with the Jews and moved on to other groups (gays, gypsies, political enemies, etc.) the terrorist conglomerate of the world will too. Oh, wait, they already have. They've moved on to Movie goers in Mumbai, night club patrons in Bali, British diplomats in Istanbul, train riders in Madrid, school children in Beslan, Russia, and, of course, World Trade Center and Pentagon workers and hijacked airplane passengers in New York and Washington.
When are the people of the world going to wake up to the threat posed by the media's continued attacks on Israel and support of terrorists? When are the people of the world going to realize their lives are in danger? When are the people of the world going to stand up and be counted for democracy, freedom and equality?
I don't know when that day will come. Oliphant and his anti-Jewish cartoon, perpetuating the myth that Israel is like Nazi Germany in any way, is just another nail in the world's coffin. Please don't allow yourself to be an accessory to the murder of Western culture and Democratic society.
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When did cartoons become so nasty? When did it become ok to project the worst prejudices and the worst lies by hiding behind "art"?
I find it amazing that the "Ethnically/Culturally/Linguistically Identical to every other group of Arabs" commonly referred to as "Palestinians" have managed to pump up the propaganda machine to such an extent that a previously respected in my mind political cartoonist like Oliphant actually believes that Israel protecting her citizens from murdering terrorists is equal to Nazis murdering innocent people (6 million of which were Jews). Personally, I wish that Israel had such a find propaganda machine. I wish Israel could even get people to believe the truth, never mind how well the "Ethnically/Culturally/Linguistically Identical to every other group of Arabs" commonly referred to as "Palestinians" (led, now, by Hamas, but, to be honest, Fata is no better and Abbas is just Arafat in a suit) has gotten the world to believe that:
- They and not the Jews are the true heirs of Abraham, and, therefore, the true guardians of Israel
- Israel, "tiny little 14 million in population vs. 1 billion Muslims" Israel, is the aggressor
- The world needs to send them money so they can build an infrastructure (when all of the money the world is sending them goes NOT to building an infrastructure or helping their lied to, inculcated, death loving, oppressed people to survive but to murdering still more Jews and Gentile Israelis)
I have news for you, phony "Liberals" out there. The terrorist conglomerate of the world won't spare you simply because you defend them and hate Israel. The terrorist conglomerate of the world won't spare you simply because you send them extortion money. The terrorist conglomerate of the world won't leave you alone because you create and the support the creation of anti-Jewish anti-Israel political cartoons or op-ed pieces. You will be swept up too if you don't fight back. You will be put in the position of having to defend your body from their invasion. And you will be next.
We Jews are the "canary in the coal mine". We are the ones who get attacked first, but, mark my work, just like Hitler started with the Jews and moved on to other groups (gays, gypsies, political enemies, etc.) the terrorist conglomerate of the world will too. Oh, wait, they already have. They've moved on to Movie goers in Mumbai, night club patrons in Bali, British diplomats in Istanbul, train riders in Madrid, school children in Beslan, Russia, and, of course, World Trade Center and Pentagon workers and hijacked airplane passengers in New York and Washington.
When are the people of the world going to wake up to the threat posed by the media's continued attacks on Israel and support of terrorists? When are the people of the world going to realize their lives are in danger? When are the people of the world going to stand up and be counted for democracy, freedom and equality?
I don't know when that day will come. Oliphant and his anti-Jewish cartoon, perpetuating the myth that Israel is like Nazi Germany in any way, is just another nail in the world's coffin. Please don't allow yourself to be an accessory to the murder of Western culture and Democratic society.
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Jewish Singles
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Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
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Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
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Pythagorean Theorem
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Saturday, February 14, 2009
"Perfect 10"??????
B"H
When I was growing up, I used to read Olameinu (Hebrew for "Our world"). Olameinu is an Orthodox Children's Magazine that makes learning fun. They used to have Tora theme riddles and one of those riddles was about a Judge in the Sanhedrin (Jewish Court) – the judge, as part of the Sanhedrin, was judging a capital case. If this judge votes "guilty", the man is set free, if the judge votes "not guilty" the man is put to death. How can this be?
The answer to the riddle is that if all 70 judges agree that someone is guilty, it means the case is too perfect and there must be some problem (for example, the defendant wasn’t adequately represented). (Noto bene: the voting is done secretly so no one knows what the other 69 judges will vote.)
One of the things I’ve always liked about Judaism is that our heroes aren’t perfect. Look through the Tanakh (Jewish Bible) and you will see that nobody, not Avraham, not Yitzhak, not Yaakov, not even Moshe, was perfect. They all made mistakes. Other religious groups don’t have that. They portray their heroes as perfect, flawless, someone not to be questioned. From the perspective of a former Yeshiva girl, that seems ridiculous. In Judaism, only G-d is perfect (and even G-d can be questioned, even argued with – Avraham and Moshe both argued with G-d and won).
The consequence of the "Our Heroes are Perfect" syndrome, in my opinion, is that people spend too much time trying to bury their mistakes and never giving their lapses a chance to teach them anything. Most Millionaires have in common that they failed in business (often multiple times) before they succeeded. They learned from their fiascoes.
Georges Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I would add to this "Those who cannot admit their mistakes are condemned to repeat them." If you cannot admit that Neville Chamberlain made a mistake in handing over land to the power hungry Adolph Hitler, if you cannot admit that Ariel Sharon with his unilateral, "no concessions asked" withdrawal from Gush Katif (Gaza) made a huge misstep, if you cannot understand that ending the Gaza War without surrender from Hamas was an error of magnificent proportions, then you will continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over again.
Placating terrorists doesn’t work. Whether the terrorist you’re talking about is head of a governmental body of a sovereign nation (like Hitler) or an organization that co-opted its people’s election to get voted in as their leader, despite their lack of a country (like Hamas) terrorists aren’t looking for logic or negotiations. Terrorists aren’t reasonable people. Terrorists haven’t even thought through what things would be like if they got their demands met. For example, what would Hitler have done if he had, G-d forbid, succeeded in killing every Jew on the planet? Do people really think he would have left his job, bought a nice little house in the country and retired there with Eva Braun? That’s highly doubtful. More likely he would have turned to Catholics or Baptists or Quakers or homosexuals or disabled people or _________ (fill in the blank with your idea of a group). Hitler’s thirst for blood would never have been quenched.
Because the Muslim faith looks at Muhammad, "The Prophet", as perfect and infallible, Islamists can never admit that something they did was wrong or bad. They have to continue along their road believing they are totally right and totally good, no matter how many people they murder. And why should they question their deeds when most of the world lauds them and condemns Israel?
Why indeed. Yet there are some Muslims who are beginning to question. In addition to high profile people like Salmon Rushdie, Nonie Darwish, Irshad Manji and Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, there are organizations of anti-terror Muslims like Muslims Against Sharia at http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com and American Islamic Forum for Democracy at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/. These organizations and others like them are beginning to be heard.
Many anti-terror Muslims and Muslim organizations are trying to spread the word about the dangers the West faces from pro-terror Muslims and Muslim organizations. We need to listen to them. We need to realize that we are not perfect and that we need to learn from our mistakes (and the mistakes of European governments). We need to stand up for our freedom and our democracy. We need to fight the tyranny, despotism and oppression left in the wake of terror activities. We need to fight for ourselves and the rest of the world, including the people under the rule of the terror organizations. We need to find a way to reeducate people who live under these regimes, who feed them a steady diet of hate. We need to plan our future and the future of Western civilization. If we don’t, that civilization will cease to exist.
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Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
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Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
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Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
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Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
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Israel and its place in the world
Everything Goes
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Ties, Shoes, etc. on Zazzle
When I was growing up, I used to read Olameinu (Hebrew for "Our world"). Olameinu is an Orthodox Children's Magazine that makes learning fun. They used to have Tora theme riddles and one of those riddles was about a Judge in the Sanhedrin (Jewish Court) – the judge, as part of the Sanhedrin, was judging a capital case. If this judge votes "guilty", the man is set free, if the judge votes "not guilty" the man is put to death. How can this be?
The answer to the riddle is that if all 70 judges agree that someone is guilty, it means the case is too perfect and there must be some problem (for example, the defendant wasn’t adequately represented). (Noto bene: the voting is done secretly so no one knows what the other 69 judges will vote.)
One of the things I’ve always liked about Judaism is that our heroes aren’t perfect. Look through the Tanakh (Jewish Bible) and you will see that nobody, not Avraham, not Yitzhak, not Yaakov, not even Moshe, was perfect. They all made mistakes. Other religious groups don’t have that. They portray their heroes as perfect, flawless, someone not to be questioned. From the perspective of a former Yeshiva girl, that seems ridiculous. In Judaism, only G-d is perfect (and even G-d can be questioned, even argued with – Avraham and Moshe both argued with G-d and won).
The consequence of the "Our Heroes are Perfect" syndrome, in my opinion, is that people spend too much time trying to bury their mistakes and never giving their lapses a chance to teach them anything. Most Millionaires have in common that they failed in business (often multiple times) before they succeeded. They learned from their fiascoes.
Georges Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I would add to this "Those who cannot admit their mistakes are condemned to repeat them." If you cannot admit that Neville Chamberlain made a mistake in handing over land to the power hungry Adolph Hitler, if you cannot admit that Ariel Sharon with his unilateral, "no concessions asked" withdrawal from Gush Katif (Gaza) made a huge misstep, if you cannot understand that ending the Gaza War without surrender from Hamas was an error of magnificent proportions, then you will continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over again.
Placating terrorists doesn’t work. Whether the terrorist you’re talking about is head of a governmental body of a sovereign nation (like Hitler) or an organization that co-opted its people’s election to get voted in as their leader, despite their lack of a country (like Hamas) terrorists aren’t looking for logic or negotiations. Terrorists aren’t reasonable people. Terrorists haven’t even thought through what things would be like if they got their demands met. For example, what would Hitler have done if he had, G-d forbid, succeeded in killing every Jew on the planet? Do people really think he would have left his job, bought a nice little house in the country and retired there with Eva Braun? That’s highly doubtful. More likely he would have turned to Catholics or Baptists or Quakers or homosexuals or disabled people or _________ (fill in the blank with your idea of a group). Hitler’s thirst for blood would never have been quenched.
Because the Muslim faith looks at Muhammad, "The Prophet", as perfect and infallible, Islamists can never admit that something they did was wrong or bad. They have to continue along their road believing they are totally right and totally good, no matter how many people they murder. And why should they question their deeds when most of the world lauds them and condemns Israel?
Why indeed. Yet there are some Muslims who are beginning to question. In addition to high profile people like Salmon Rushdie, Nonie Darwish, Irshad Manji and Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, there are organizations of anti-terror Muslims like Muslims Against Sharia at http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com and American Islamic Forum for Democracy at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/. These organizations and others like them are beginning to be heard.
Many anti-terror Muslims and Muslim organizations are trying to spread the word about the dangers the West faces from pro-terror Muslims and Muslim organizations. We need to listen to them. We need to realize that we are not perfect and that we need to learn from our mistakes (and the mistakes of European governments). We need to stand up for our freedom and our democracy. We need to fight the tyranny, despotism and oppression left in the wake of terror activities. We need to fight for ourselves and the rest of the world, including the people under the rule of the terror organizations. We need to find a way to reeducate people who live under these regimes, who feed them a steady diet of hate. We need to plan our future and the future of Western civilization. If we don’t, that civilization will cease to exist.
Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan
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Jewish Singles
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Israel and its place in the world
Everything Goes
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Thursday, January 29, 2009
I hate to say "I told you so" but.....
B"H
I try not to be the sort of person who says "I told you so". But there are just some times that I feel the need to remind people that I warned them.
In one of my previous blog entries (The Fault Lies Not in our Stars) dated April 23, 2008, I gave an analogy to what happens with Israel in the press and in the world.
Interestingly enough, this analogy is precisely what happened during the recent Gaza War. Israel is required, by public opinion and the opinion of the world press (including some of Israel's own journalists) to endure every attack on her people -- every homicide bomber, every falling missile, every soldier kidnapping/torture/murder, every personal attack/murder, every school or Yeshiva attack/mass murder -- without a preemptive strike, without a defensive attack, without a complaint or a whimper. All this is required of a people who comprise such a tiny percentage of the world population. (Jews make up about .2% of the world's population -- Muslims make up somewhere around 17% to 23% of the world's population, depending on whose estimate of the Muslim population you take.)
It seems rather ironic to me that people feel that, to be open-minded and politically correct, they need to bend over backwards to a group that makes up 17% to 23% of the world's population while criticizing and lambasting the group that makes up .2% of the world's population (mind you, this means, basically, that there are around 100 times as many Muslims as Jews).
So, keep in mind whenever you read those articles saying what horrible people the Israelis are and how they are overreacting and how the numbers of "Palestinians" killed is disproportionate (notice how they never count in this total all the Israelis murdered during the two intifadas or the difference between Israeli civilians, who are easily separated from the military, and Palestinian civilians, who are used to protect their cowardly leaders from harm because they know the Israelis don't want to kill civilians -- but I digress....) that Israel is defending herself and her citizens and her visitors from the hatred and murder of a racist, xenophobic, militaristic, misogynistic regime that keeps it's own people in squalor so that they can feed on hatred and death, so they can be their willing sacrificial lambs marching to slaughter, their own slaughter and that of their victims. Keep in mind when you are bombarded with anti-Jewish (masquerading as anti-Israel -- make no mistakes, anti-Israel is anti-Jewish -- if it weren't, people wouldn't be criticizing Israel for defending herself and they would be much more concerned about Darfur and other places where Muslims are killing Christians and other non-Muslims) Israel-criticism in the media that Israel would be the first to live in peace if her neighbors would stop attacking. Israel would like nothing more than to not lose the best and bravest of her people. Israel would like nothing more than to be left alone. But that's not the reality Israelis live in. That's not the reality we in the US live in. This is not the reality of the world as it is today in the 21st secular century in a post 9-11 world.
When the paradigm shifts and peace is beloved by all, then Israelis can lay down their guns. But, while I pray for this paradigm shift, I don't expect it in my lifetime. So I act accordingly.
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Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
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Quick Vegan Cooking
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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan
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Jewish Sandwich
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Israel and its place in the world
Everything Goes
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Other merchandise
Ties, Shoes, etc. on Zazzle
I try not to be the sort of person who says "I told you so". But there are just some times that I feel the need to remind people that I warned them.
In one of my previous blog entries (The Fault Lies Not in our Stars) dated April 23, 2008, I gave an analogy to what happens with Israel in the press and in the world.
Interestingly enough, this analogy is precisely what happened during the recent Gaza War. Israel is required, by public opinion and the opinion of the world press (including some of Israel's own journalists) to endure every attack on her people -- every homicide bomber, every falling missile, every soldier kidnapping/torture/murder, every personal attack/murder, every school or Yeshiva attack/mass murder -- without a preemptive strike, without a defensive attack, without a complaint or a whimper. All this is required of a people who comprise such a tiny percentage of the world population. (Jews make up about .2% of the world's population -- Muslims make up somewhere around 17% to 23% of the world's population, depending on whose estimate of the Muslim population you take.)
It seems rather ironic to me that people feel that, to be open-minded and politically correct, they need to bend over backwards to a group that makes up 17% to 23% of the world's population while criticizing and lambasting the group that makes up .2% of the world's population (mind you, this means, basically, that there are around 100 times as many Muslims as Jews).
So, keep in mind whenever you read those articles saying what horrible people the Israelis are and how they are overreacting and how the numbers of "Palestinians" killed is disproportionate (notice how they never count in this total all the Israelis murdered during the two intifadas or the difference between Israeli civilians, who are easily separated from the military, and Palestinian civilians, who are used to protect their cowardly leaders from harm because they know the Israelis don't want to kill civilians -- but I digress....) that Israel is defending herself and her citizens and her visitors from the hatred and murder of a racist, xenophobic, militaristic, misogynistic regime that keeps it's own people in squalor so that they can feed on hatred and death, so they can be their willing sacrificial lambs marching to slaughter, their own slaughter and that of their victims. Keep in mind when you are bombarded with anti-Jewish (masquerading as anti-Israel -- make no mistakes, anti-Israel is anti-Jewish -- if it weren't, people wouldn't be criticizing Israel for defending herself and they would be much more concerned about Darfur and other places where Muslims are killing Christians and other non-Muslims) Israel-criticism in the media that Israel would be the first to live in peace if her neighbors would stop attacking. Israel would like nothing more than to not lose the best and bravest of her people. Israel would like nothing more than to be left alone. But that's not the reality Israelis live in. That's not the reality we in the US live in. This is not the reality of the world as it is today in the 21st secular century in a post 9-11 world.
When the paradigm shifts and peace is beloved by all, then Israelis can lay down their guns. But, while I pray for this paradigm shift, I don't expect it in my lifetime. So I act accordingly.
Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Sandwich
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Israel and its place in the world
Everything Goes
Check out my other merchandise:
Other merchandise
Ties, Shoes, etc. on Zazzle
Sunday, January 25, 2009
NY is the UNcity....
B"H
Someone commented on one of the comments I made on the Muslims Against Sharia blog (I mostly agreed with what (s)he had to say, (see the comments on the bottom of this page) but I felt the need to comment anyway...) and this is what I answered:
I personally think the UN has outlived its usefulness as a peace keeping organization. I'm beginning to understand the wisdom of the US not joining the League of Nations (Wilson to the contrary notwithstanding) after WWI.
The problem, as I see it, with the UN is that blocs of nations (such as the former Warsaw bloc and the current Arab/Muslim bloc) can easily co opt the organization and, together with other blocs that are afraid to "anger" them, the business of the UN becomes trying to get the one country that would live in peace without anyone else's intervention, condemning that country and forcing her to make unhealthy (from a security perspective) concessions (like freeing murderous criminal terrorists from prisons so they can kill again and allow an avowed enemy to get the government to agree to force brave, peace loving people from their homes).
IMHO, the UN should be disbanded, kicked out of New York (I'm sure New York City could use the extra revenue that would provide) and change its name to the "union of Arab/Muslim and Muslim-fearing states" to actually reflect what it truly IS.
European governments cower from the Arab and Muslim people living in their lands. What they fail to realize is that these people are doing what they can do anyway -- angering them isn't going to change anything. They are perpetually angry. As a Jew, I know I'm a target anyway, just by existing. I realize that means I don't have to kowtow to them. By doing what they want, we are showing them weakness, in their eyes. Fight for what you believe in. Fight while there is still something to fight for. If things keep up the way they are going, there will be nothing left to fight for all to soon.
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Someone commented on one of the comments I made on the Muslims Against Sharia blog (I mostly agreed with what (s)he had to say, (see the comments on the bottom of this page) but I felt the need to comment anyway...) and this is what I answered:
I personally think the UN has outlived its usefulness as a peace keeping organization. I'm beginning to understand the wisdom of the US not joining the League of Nations (Wilson to the contrary notwithstanding) after WWI.
The problem, as I see it, with the UN is that blocs of nations (such as the former Warsaw bloc and the current Arab/Muslim bloc) can easily co opt the organization and, together with other blocs that are afraid to "anger" them, the business of the UN becomes trying to get the one country that would live in peace without anyone else's intervention, condemning that country and forcing her to make unhealthy (from a security perspective) concessions (like freeing murderous criminal terrorists from prisons so they can kill again and allow an avowed enemy to get the government to agree to force brave, peace loving people from their homes).
IMHO, the UN should be disbanded, kicked out of New York (I'm sure New York City could use the extra revenue that would provide) and change its name to the "union of Arab/Muslim and Muslim-fearing states" to actually reflect what it truly IS.
European governments cower from the Arab and Muslim people living in their lands. What they fail to realize is that these people are doing what they can do anyway -- angering them isn't going to change anything. They are perpetually angry. As a Jew, I know I'm a target anyway, just by existing. I realize that means I don't have to kowtow to them. By doing what they want, we are showing them weakness, in their eyes. Fight for what you believe in. Fight while there is still something to fight for. If things keep up the way they are going, there will be nothing left to fight for all to soon.
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Saturday, December 13, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
"My computer is allergic to smoke"
B"H
I hope by now that those of you who regularly read this blog know that, despite my living in the US, I love Israel. My first visit to Israel, a bit over 20 years ago, lasted 9 months and I have been there three times in the past 4 years. I have family there (whom I adore and miss terribly when I don't see them). One of my nephews, who has lived almost half his life in Israel, is always bugging me to move there. He starts listing all the reasons I should move to Israel (to be near them, it's a Jewish state, etc.) and I give him my list of reasons I don't want to move there. Tops on my list is cigarette smoke.
I know many of you will say the same thing my nephew says ("That's not a good reason.") but he's wrong.
The first time I was in Israel, I worked for a company in Ashkelon. My job was to learn the educational computer language logo (a fun language and easy to teach to young children). I worked in an office with one other person (who also didn't smoke). But other people from the company would come into the office and they would smoke. I would ask them to stop and they would ignore me, poo-poo me, disrespect me, but they would rarely put out their cigarettes.
So I put up a sign that said Na Lo L'Ashein -- HaMahshevim Alergiim l'Ashan -- Please don't smoke, the computers are allergic to smoke. That was the only thing that stopped them -- a person's lungs they didn't care about, but that the smoke could ruin the computers, that they cared about!
A number of years ago, the oldest daughter of a family we know got married in Israel to a smoker. I asked her how she could marry a smoker and she said that she was too old (in her 30s!) to be so picky. A few years back, she passed away (in her 50s) from cancer leaving 6 children (all living at home) without a mother. About a year later, her husband dropped dead of a heart attack leaving these 6 children without parents (one was about bar mitzvah age) living in Israel (the rest of their family, grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, all live in the US). I believe the husband's smoking caused this tragedy.
My mother, who never smoked a day in her life, just found out that she has a bit of emphysema. We were wondering how this happened. My mother grew up with smokers all around her (father, aunts, cousins, etc.). She also bowls a lot (and those bowling alleys are a hotbed for cigarette smoke!).
Non-smokers in the US at least have the law on their sides. But non-smokers in Israel don't really have anyone on their side (I was in a restaurant with my family and the smoking section door was open into the non-smoking section -- how were we to avoid the smoke????) When Israel decided to clean up her act and the country's lungs, I might consider moving to Israel. But until then, I'll have to stay here, in the land of the (smoke) free (air).
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I hope by now that those of you who regularly read this blog know that, despite my living in the US, I love Israel. My first visit to Israel, a bit over 20 years ago, lasted 9 months and I have been there three times in the past 4 years. I have family there (whom I adore and miss terribly when I don't see them). One of my nephews, who has lived almost half his life in Israel, is always bugging me to move there. He starts listing all the reasons I should move to Israel (to be near them, it's a Jewish state, etc.) and I give him my list of reasons I don't want to move there. Tops on my list is cigarette smoke.
I know many of you will say the same thing my nephew says ("That's not a good reason.") but he's wrong.
The first time I was in Israel, I worked for a company in Ashkelon. My job was to learn the educational computer language logo (a fun language and easy to teach to young children). I worked in an office with one other person (who also didn't smoke). But other people from the company would come into the office and they would smoke. I would ask them to stop and they would ignore me, poo-poo me, disrespect me, but they would rarely put out their cigarettes.
So I put up a sign that said Na Lo L'Ashein -- HaMahshevim Alergiim l'Ashan -- Please don't smoke, the computers are allergic to smoke. That was the only thing that stopped them -- a person's lungs they didn't care about, but that the smoke could ruin the computers, that they cared about!
A number of years ago, the oldest daughter of a family we know got married in Israel to a smoker. I asked her how she could marry a smoker and she said that she was too old (in her 30s!) to be so picky. A few years back, she passed away (in her 50s) from cancer leaving 6 children (all living at home) without a mother. About a year later, her husband dropped dead of a heart attack leaving these 6 children without parents (one was about bar mitzvah age) living in Israel (the rest of their family, grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, all live in the US). I believe the husband's smoking caused this tragedy.
My mother, who never smoked a day in her life, just found out that she has a bit of emphysema. We were wondering how this happened. My mother grew up with smokers all around her (father, aunts, cousins, etc.). She also bowls a lot (and those bowling alleys are a hotbed for cigarette smoke!).
Non-smokers in the US at least have the law on their sides. But non-smokers in Israel don't really have anyone on their side (I was in a restaurant with my family and the smoking section door was open into the non-smoking section -- how were we to avoid the smoke????) When Israel decided to clean up her act and the country's lungs, I might consider moving to Israel. But until then, I'll have to stay here, in the land of the (smoke) free (air).
Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan
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Friday, April 25, 2008
Unfortunately, a lot of people share [this] simplistic view
B"H
One of my friends alerts me to blog entries I should be commenting on. This is a comment on a blog entry called Quo Vadis, Israel? by Dana J. Tuszke: (the italicized parts below are quotes from her blog entry)
I have a lot to say about your original post and, while I read a number of the comments, I didn't read them all, so if I repeat anything that has been said before, please excuse me.
I can only hope that your purpose in writing this was to learn more about the subject. I hope the comments you have received have helped in this regard and I hope I can add to your education on this subject.
First of all, I'd like to suggest you read my blog "Israel and its place in the world" for some more insights. I do have a bit of a background. I have family in Israel (I've been to Israel myself 4 times, once for 9 months of a 1 year program, the rest for family celebrations). I learned quite a bit of Jewish History in my years in Yeshiva (Jewish Day School, not after school Hebrew School) and I learn more by working with my tutees. So, perhaps, I have a bit more understanding of the subject.
"I do remember learning about the Holy Land in catechism class, but only as it pertained to the Roman-Catholic faith, the Bible, or Jesus Christ himself."
As a Roman Catholic, I doubt you could possibly understand what Israel means to the heart and soul of the Jewish people. I won't even attempt to explain it in this short (?!?!) forum.
"I once asked a teacher why there were so many conflicts in the Middle East, why people were always fighting with each other, but I never received an answer that made any sense. My questions were often answered with generalizations or personal assumptions."
Sigh. This is a problem. If I were to try to explain the roots of this issue it would sound paranoid. I would suggest you read Brigitte Gabriel's book "Because They Hate". While it's not a Jewish perspective on the issue, it gives you an idea of what happens when open-minded people let the Islamists move in.
"'For Jews and non-Jews alike," Nennhaus writes, "the State of Israel has become the source of disappointment and concern. The world has witnessed the never-ending tragedy that has befallen the Holy Land with its wars, bombings and intifadas, and the United States, in spite of its unmatched influence, has been unable to resolve the crisis.'"
I'm quite surprised that Israel is a source of disappointment. To me, the only disappointment I have with Israel is its government's inability to see the true threat and protect its citizens (especially those in Sderot, but I digress). The wars, bombings and intifadas are caused, quite simply, by the Islamists' aversion to a Jewish presence in a place they consider theirs. Israel, BTW, is a bit smaller than New Jersey and has a population density of over 700 people per square mile (this is a far higher population density than Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia and far less land and even the smallest of these four). Israel is anything but a disappointment to Jews living there, the technology companies who have branches there, the cell phone customers all over the world (the technology for cell phones was developed in Israel, which probably explains the high per capita cell phone use in Israel).
I can't understand how anyone could be disappointed with Israel -- the people who have lived in Israel have taken a place that was desolate and turned into a garden spot. They took a colony and turned it into a country. They took a place living under despots and dictators and created a democracy. They took a spot in the third world and created a modern country based on freedom, liberty and equality for all. They took a piece of real estate (much of which was paid for by Jewish agencies and private Jews) and turned it into a haven not only for oppressed Jews (eg Soviet Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Yemenite Jews, etc.) but also for oppressed non-Jews (eg Vietnamese boat people, members of the Baha'i faith, etc.). How can anyone be disappointed with that?
"The author believes that peace in Israel cannot be achieved if things stay as they are and always have been, and offers that the solution may lie in relocating the State of Israel to a geographic region where there is no hostility."
Interesting idea, but hardly new. When Theodore Herzl, the father of Zionism, first thought about what would erase anti-Semitism in the world (he had just been witness to one of the most anti-Semitic happenings in his generation, the Dreyfus Affair -- and the people yelled "kill the Jews" -- not "kill the traitor" or "kill the Jew" singular, but "kill the Jews") he thought of having the Jews settle Uganda. That really didn't fly. Zionism is centered in Zion, another name for Israel. Israel is the center of our lives, the center of our relationship with G-d. Any other place is just like living in a dormitory -- it's nice, but it's not home.
"I wonder how this would work? Would it solve the many conflicts that arise between Israelis and Palestinians? Where would the State of Israel relocate? Should the United States end the war in Iraq and assist the Israelis instead?"
By the way, it wouldn't work too well. For 2000 or so year, Jews have lived mostly outside of Israel (there has always been a Jewish presence in Israel since the time of Joshua, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000 years ago). And we've been kicked out of more countries than I care to list. Each country complained about our presence. Each country, like the world currently, blamed us for all their ills. So finally we decided it's time for us to have our own country again, with G-d's help. So now, these same people (all right, the descendants of these same people) who were for so many centuries, upset that we didn't have our own country, are now upset that we DO have our own country. When you realize that nothing you do pleases others, you realize it's time to please yourself.
I also have a problem with all the people who either say that Israel is the whole problem or that both sides are equally responsible. Think about this truism -- if the Arabs were to put down their weapons there would be no more war; if Israelis put down their weapons, there would be no more Israel.
Israel has spent the past 60 years (and then some) trying to make peace, trying to live in peace, making concessions, defending itself from enemies. When Israel had Gaza, it was a beautiful community. Now it's little more than a launching pad for missiles heading for Sderot or other populated areas. Why are we so anxious to repeat this mistake with Judea and Samaria (aka "the West Bank")?
Unlike the Palestinian Authority (which has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that it doesn't deserve its own country), Israel accepts people of all ethnicities, religions, national origins, races, sexual orientation, etc. Jews have been kicked out of every area given to the Palestinian Authority but Israel doesn't kick out anyone. The existing Palestinian "refugees" left their homes voluntarily at the request of the enemies of Israel. Israel has never forcibly displaced any population (except its own, as in Gaza and the Sinai).
From my perspective, the only solution is for Israel to defend itself, its citizens and its guests (whether they be tourists or people from other countries in Israel to earn a living). Unless the Palestinian Authority, whether it's run by Hamas or Fata, has something to lose, peace will never happen.
Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
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One of my friends alerts me to blog entries I should be commenting on. This is a comment on a blog entry called Quo Vadis, Israel? by Dana J. Tuszke: (the italicized parts below are quotes from her blog entry)
I have a lot to say about your original post and, while I read a number of the comments, I didn't read them all, so if I repeat anything that has been said before, please excuse me.
I can only hope that your purpose in writing this was to learn more about the subject. I hope the comments you have received have helped in this regard and I hope I can add to your education on this subject.
First of all, I'd like to suggest you read my blog "Israel and its place in the world" for some more insights. I do have a bit of a background. I have family in Israel (I've been to Israel myself 4 times, once for 9 months of a 1 year program, the rest for family celebrations). I learned quite a bit of Jewish History in my years in Yeshiva (Jewish Day School, not after school Hebrew School) and I learn more by working with my tutees. So, perhaps, I have a bit more understanding of the subject.
"I do remember learning about the Holy Land in catechism class, but only as it pertained to the Roman-Catholic faith, the Bible, or Jesus Christ himself."
As a Roman Catholic, I doubt you could possibly understand what Israel means to the heart and soul of the Jewish people. I won't even attempt to explain it in this short (?!?!) forum.
"I once asked a teacher why there were so many conflicts in the Middle East, why people were always fighting with each other, but I never received an answer that made any sense. My questions were often answered with generalizations or personal assumptions."
Sigh. This is a problem. If I were to try to explain the roots of this issue it would sound paranoid. I would suggest you read Brigitte Gabriel's book "Because They Hate". While it's not a Jewish perspective on the issue, it gives you an idea of what happens when open-minded people let the Islamists move in.
"'For Jews and non-Jews alike," Nennhaus writes, "the State of Israel has become the source of disappointment and concern. The world has witnessed the never-ending tragedy that has befallen the Holy Land with its wars, bombings and intifadas, and the United States, in spite of its unmatched influence, has been unable to resolve the crisis.'"
I'm quite surprised that Israel is a source of disappointment. To me, the only disappointment I have with Israel is its government's inability to see the true threat and protect its citizens (especially those in Sderot, but I digress). The wars, bombings and intifadas are caused, quite simply, by the Islamists' aversion to a Jewish presence in a place they consider theirs. Israel, BTW, is a bit smaller than New Jersey and has a population density of over 700 people per square mile (this is a far higher population density than Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia and far less land and even the smallest of these four). Israel is anything but a disappointment to Jews living there, the technology companies who have branches there, the cell phone customers all over the world (the technology for cell phones was developed in Israel, which probably explains the high per capita cell phone use in Israel).
I can't understand how anyone could be disappointed with Israel -- the people who have lived in Israel have taken a place that was desolate and turned into a garden spot. They took a colony and turned it into a country. They took a place living under despots and dictators and created a democracy. They took a spot in the third world and created a modern country based on freedom, liberty and equality for all. They took a piece of real estate (much of which was paid for by Jewish agencies and private Jews) and turned it into a haven not only for oppressed Jews (eg Soviet Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Yemenite Jews, etc.) but also for oppressed non-Jews (eg Vietnamese boat people, members of the Baha'i faith, etc.). How can anyone be disappointed with that?
"The author believes that peace in Israel cannot be achieved if things stay as they are and always have been, and offers that the solution may lie in relocating the State of Israel to a geographic region where there is no hostility."
Interesting idea, but hardly new. When Theodore Herzl, the father of Zionism, first thought about what would erase anti-Semitism in the world (he had just been witness to one of the most anti-Semitic happenings in his generation, the Dreyfus Affair -- and the people yelled "kill the Jews" -- not "kill the traitor" or "kill the Jew" singular, but "kill the Jews") he thought of having the Jews settle Uganda. That really didn't fly. Zionism is centered in Zion, another name for Israel. Israel is the center of our lives, the center of our relationship with G-d. Any other place is just like living in a dormitory -- it's nice, but it's not home.
"I wonder how this would work? Would it solve the many conflicts that arise between Israelis and Palestinians? Where would the State of Israel relocate? Should the United States end the war in Iraq and assist the Israelis instead?"
By the way, it wouldn't work too well. For 2000 or so year, Jews have lived mostly outside of Israel (there has always been a Jewish presence in Israel since the time of Joshua, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000 years ago). And we've been kicked out of more countries than I care to list. Each country complained about our presence. Each country, like the world currently, blamed us for all their ills. So finally we decided it's time for us to have our own country again, with G-d's help. So now, these same people (all right, the descendants of these same people) who were for so many centuries, upset that we didn't have our own country, are now upset that we DO have our own country. When you realize that nothing you do pleases others, you realize it's time to please yourself.
I also have a problem with all the people who either say that Israel is the whole problem or that both sides are equally responsible. Think about this truism -- if the Arabs were to put down their weapons there would be no more war; if Israelis put down their weapons, there would be no more Israel.
Israel has spent the past 60 years (and then some) trying to make peace, trying to live in peace, making concessions, defending itself from enemies. When Israel had Gaza, it was a beautiful community. Now it's little more than a launching pad for missiles heading for Sderot or other populated areas. Why are we so anxious to repeat this mistake with Judea and Samaria (aka "the West Bank")?
Unlike the Palestinian Authority (which has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that it doesn't deserve its own country), Israel accepts people of all ethnicities, religions, national origins, races, sexual orientation, etc. Jews have been kicked out of every area given to the Palestinian Authority but Israel doesn't kick out anyone. The existing Palestinian "refugees" left their homes voluntarily at the request of the enemies of Israel. Israel has never forcibly displaced any population (except its own, as in Gaza and the Sinai).
From my perspective, the only solution is for Israel to defend itself, its citizens and its guests (whether they be tourists or people from other countries in Israel to earn a living). Unless the Palestinian Authority, whether it's run by Hamas or Fata, has something to lose, peace will never happen.
Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Sandwich
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Check out my other merchandise:
Other merchandise
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Fault lies not in our stars.......
B"H
I got a comment to the blog entry about Sheryl Crow's song that I felt the need to address. It's not that this comment (which was submitted anonymously) surprised me. It's not that this comment is unusual. It's just because it is so common and so often expressed and it shows a total lack of understanding of the situation that I felt I needed to comment on it.
Imagine you're in 5th grade. You're a small boy but you've been learning karate since you were 5 and you're pretty good at it. While you're not exactly a black belt, you are certainly capable of defending yourself. A larger boy comes over to you and tells you that you have to do his homework for him or he'll "beat you up". You know you can defend yourself against him, but you were taught that peace is more important, so you do his homework for him.
After a month of doing your own homework and his homework as well, he comes over to you again and tells you that if you don't give him your lunch money, in addition to doing his homework, he and his friends (who are standing in the background watching this exchange) will "beat you up". You decide that you don't want to start a fight, so you give him your lunch money.
After about a month of doing his homework and giving him your lunch money, he comes over and tells you that he's going to "beat you up" anyway. So he starts to hit you. You block his shots. He keeps trying to hit you, you keep blocking his shots. Finally, you decide that if you land one good shot maybe he will stop trying to hit you, stop taking your lunch money and stop having you do his homework. So you land one good karate kick.
Suddenly, you are surrounded by his friends, several teachers who were watching the entire scene and other students, all yelling at you and calling you the aggressor. All you did was defend yourself, but you are the one being blamed. You did everything you could to avoid the fight. But every time you gave in, the bully wanted more. And you're being blamed.
This is what Israel goes through every day. We've been helping the Palestinians in every way possible (giving them jobs, medical care, food, humanitarian aid, etc.) and yet, they don't want peace with us. You can't make someone want peace. And the Palestinian Authority is currently getting everything it wants without having to live in peace, without making even the smallest concession. Why would they want to negotiate? Why would they want to live in peace?
I would also like to ask the anonymous comment maker this: Do you have the slightest idea how small Israel is in comparison the Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, just to mention a few? Do you have any idea what the population density is in Israel vs. the above mentioned countries? And, by the way, do you also happen to know that in Israel, people of all ethnicities, religions, national origins and sexual orientations live together (Haifa, Israel is the center of the Baha'i faith, for one thing) -- this is not true of Arab/Muslim countries (and, in order for the Palestinians to move into Gaza, all Jews were forced to leave -- no Arabs were forced to leave Israel -- the ones who left in 1948 did so voluntarily)?
When one side has made all the concessions (and is still willing to make more concessions) while the other side has made no concessions are is unwilling to make any in the future it is really difficult to say that there is equal culpability in the hostilities. When one side continues to attack the civilians on the other side while the other side goes out of its way to avoid civilian casualties it is unfair to say that there is equal culpability in the hostilities. Israel has been more than forthcoming and more than willing to make peace. The Palestinians have not. It may take two to tango but it takes only one to attack. The Christian concept of "turning the other cheek" may occasionally work on a personal basis, but Israel's run out of "cheeks". It is clear from their behavior which side wants peace and which side only wants the other in pieces.
Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
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Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
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Other merchandise
I got a comment to the blog entry about Sheryl Crow's song that I felt the need to address. It's not that this comment (which was submitted anonymously) surprised me. It's not that this comment is unusual. It's just because it is so common and so often expressed and it shows a total lack of understanding of the situation that I felt I needed to comment on it.
Imagine you're in 5th grade. You're a small boy but you've been learning karate since you were 5 and you're pretty good at it. While you're not exactly a black belt, you are certainly capable of defending yourself. A larger boy comes over to you and tells you that you have to do his homework for him or he'll "beat you up". You know you can defend yourself against him, but you were taught that peace is more important, so you do his homework for him.
After a month of doing your own homework and his homework as well, he comes over to you again and tells you that if you don't give him your lunch money, in addition to doing his homework, he and his friends (who are standing in the background watching this exchange) will "beat you up". You decide that you don't want to start a fight, so you give him your lunch money.
After about a month of doing his homework and giving him your lunch money, he comes over and tells you that he's going to "beat you up" anyway. So he starts to hit you. You block his shots. He keeps trying to hit you, you keep blocking his shots. Finally, you decide that if you land one good shot maybe he will stop trying to hit you, stop taking your lunch money and stop having you do his homework. So you land one good karate kick.
Suddenly, you are surrounded by his friends, several teachers who were watching the entire scene and other students, all yelling at you and calling you the aggressor. All you did was defend yourself, but you are the one being blamed. You did everything you could to avoid the fight. But every time you gave in, the bully wanted more. And you're being blamed.
This is what Israel goes through every day. We've been helping the Palestinians in every way possible (giving them jobs, medical care, food, humanitarian aid, etc.) and yet, they don't want peace with us. You can't make someone want peace. And the Palestinian Authority is currently getting everything it wants without having to live in peace, without making even the smallest concession. Why would they want to negotiate? Why would they want to live in peace?
I would also like to ask the anonymous comment maker this: Do you have the slightest idea how small Israel is in comparison the Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, just to mention a few? Do you have any idea what the population density is in Israel vs. the above mentioned countries? And, by the way, do you also happen to know that in Israel, people of all ethnicities, religions, national origins and sexual orientations live together (Haifa, Israel is the center of the Baha'i faith, for one thing) -- this is not true of Arab/Muslim countries (and, in order for the Palestinians to move into Gaza, all Jews were forced to leave -- no Arabs were forced to leave Israel -- the ones who left in 1948 did so voluntarily)?
When one side has made all the concessions (and is still willing to make more concessions) while the other side has made no concessions are is unwilling to make any in the future it is really difficult to say that there is equal culpability in the hostilities. When one side continues to attack the civilians on the other side while the other side goes out of its way to avoid civilian casualties it is unfair to say that there is equal culpability in the hostilities. Israel has been more than forthcoming and more than willing to make peace. The Palestinians have not. It may take two to tango but it takes only one to attack. The Christian concept of "turning the other cheek" may occasionally work on a personal basis, but Israel's run out of "cheeks". It is clear from their behavior which side wants peace and which side only wants the other in pieces.
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Carter and Arafat
B"H
I don't usually comment directly on news articles, but this one just couldn't go without comment.
Jimmy Carter, the ex-president who saw a UFO and attacked a killer rabbit and lusted in his heart and wrote a book that used out and out lies to paint a very positive picture of the Arab world and a very negative picture (patently false though it may be) of Israel, is at it again. He stopped to put a wreath on the gave of Yassar Arafat. Carter called the godfather of terrorism "... a peacemaker..." Well I guess Arafat is a peacemaker -- look at how many people are currently resting in peace thanks to him and his thugs.
The article also said that he is "eager to hear viewpoints" about peace and the peace process. "Instead of talking, he's doing a lot of listening," said [Carter's trip director Rick] Jasculca. (I quoted this directly from the article Jimmy Carter Lays A Wreath at Arafat's Tomb by Julie Stahl from Newsmax.com) Somehow, I have a feeling that the only listening the ex-president and current liar, Israel-basher and bigoted Jew-hater will be doing is to people who agree with him and hate and blame Israel as much as he does.
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I don't usually comment directly on news articles, but this one just couldn't go without comment.
Jimmy Carter, the ex-president who saw a UFO and attacked a killer rabbit and lusted in his heart and wrote a book that used out and out lies to paint a very positive picture of the Arab world and a very negative picture (patently false though it may be) of Israel, is at it again. He stopped to put a wreath on the gave of Yassar Arafat. Carter called the godfather of terrorism "... a peacemaker..." Well I guess Arafat is a peacemaker -- look at how many people are currently resting in peace thanks to him and his thugs.
The article also said that he is "eager to hear viewpoints" about peace and the peace process. "Instead of talking, he's doing a lot of listening," said [Carter's trip director Rick] Jasculca. (I quoted this directly from the article Jimmy Carter Lays A Wreath at Arafat's Tomb by Julie Stahl from Newsmax.com) Somehow, I have a feeling that the only listening the ex-president and current liar, Israel-basher and bigoted Jew-hater will be doing is to people who agree with him and hate and blame Israel as much as he does.
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sheryl Crow and the "Children of Abraham"
B"H
I recently became aware of a song that Sheryl Crow sings called Out Of Our Heads. This song has the words Children of Abraham in it. It basically calls for peace and puts an equal responsibility for this peace on all the Children of Abraham -- Jews, Muslims and Christians. This is a very lovely sentiment and I don't fault Ms. Crow for her words. Except......
Except that it presupposes that each side is equally responsible for the state of hostility that exists. Except that it assumes that equal concession from each party will resolve the issue. Except that it espouses a position that each side has something to lose by not making peace.
Except that, because of the way people look at things, the term Children of Abraham is generally seen as referring to Jews and people who hear this song might interpret it as meaning that Israel is the recalcitrant party, despite unilateral concessions (like handing over the keys to the Gaza Strip to the terrorists who lob bombs on the city of Sderot like they're playing some bizarre and ultra violent PS3 game and planning further "pullouts" from the "West Bank", also known as Judea and Samaria), despite Israeli care in avoiding civilian casualties while Hamas and Fatah target civilians, despite Palestinian racism, despite the adage that "if the Arabs would put down their weapons there would be no more war; if Israelis would put down their weapons there would be no more Israel." Israel has everything to gain from peace; Hamas and Fata have nothing to gain. The world is on their side and by conceding even a millimeter brings them no closer to their goal -- the total destruction of the State of Israel.
I think part of the problem is that, political correctness to the contrary notwithstanding, most people would seem to be happier if we, as Jews, would just disappear from this planet. Come on, all you closet anti-Semites out there, you know it's true. You know you are just picking on Israel because it's more politically correct to hate Israel and criticize Israel for their stubborn desire to survive than it is to say that you hate Jews.
On my cafe press site I have a way to link to other cafe press Jewish designs. This past week I discovered that there is a design on cafe press that is composed of a Jewish star with a "not" sign (circle with a line diagonally through it) on it. This upset me, despite the attempt at political correctness by the owner of this site (he said words to the affect that you should hate the religion but love the people -- pardon me, but that's a boatload of c***) to lessen his hatred and prejudice. (Had he said he was anti-G-d, that wouldn't have bothered me so much because G-d doesn't need people to believe in Him/Her -- and G-d can protect Him/Herself -- but by spreading hatred, this man could cause people to kill people.)
So back to Ms. Crow the crooner. I understand her sentiment and, to be honest, I wish it were that easy (actually, if it were that easy we'd already have peace). But over the past 60 years (and earlier), Israel has done just about everything it could for peace, but no one's joining the "party". Even our so called "friends" spread anti-Jewish sentiment. Radio Jordan, the English language radio station of Jordan that I listened to in the mid 1980s when I was in Israel, refers to Israel as the "Zionist Entity". And they're supposed to be our friend. With friends like them, well, we certainly don't need enemies (even without friends like that, we don't need enemies, but we have plenty of them and no real way to make them friends).
Ms. Crow, I agree with your desire for peace (as in the opposite of war, the opposite of missiles falling daily on the inhabitants of Sderot, the opposite of people coming into our schools and murdering our students for the crime of being Jewish). I'm just not so naive to believe that my desire will cause it to happen.
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I recently became aware of a song that Sheryl Crow sings called Out Of Our Heads. This song has the words Children of Abraham in it. It basically calls for peace and puts an equal responsibility for this peace on all the Children of Abraham -- Jews, Muslims and Christians. This is a very lovely sentiment and I don't fault Ms. Crow for her words. Except......
Except that it presupposes that each side is equally responsible for the state of hostility that exists. Except that it assumes that equal concession from each party will resolve the issue. Except that it espouses a position that each side has something to lose by not making peace.
Except that, because of the way people look at things, the term Children of Abraham is generally seen as referring to Jews and people who hear this song might interpret it as meaning that Israel is the recalcitrant party, despite unilateral concessions (like handing over the keys to the Gaza Strip to the terrorists who lob bombs on the city of Sderot like they're playing some bizarre and ultra violent PS3 game and planning further "pullouts" from the "West Bank", also known as Judea and Samaria), despite Israeli care in avoiding civilian casualties while Hamas and Fatah target civilians, despite Palestinian racism, despite the adage that "if the Arabs would put down their weapons there would be no more war; if Israelis would put down their weapons there would be no more Israel." Israel has everything to gain from peace; Hamas and Fata have nothing to gain. The world is on their side and by conceding even a millimeter brings them no closer to their goal -- the total destruction of the State of Israel.
I think part of the problem is that, political correctness to the contrary notwithstanding, most people would seem to be happier if we, as Jews, would just disappear from this planet. Come on, all you closet anti-Semites out there, you know it's true. You know you are just picking on Israel because it's more politically correct to hate Israel and criticize Israel for their stubborn desire to survive than it is to say that you hate Jews.
On my cafe press site I have a way to link to other cafe press Jewish designs. This past week I discovered that there is a design on cafe press that is composed of a Jewish star with a "not" sign (circle with a line diagonally through it) on it. This upset me, despite the attempt at political correctness by the owner of this site (he said words to the affect that you should hate the religion but love the people -- pardon me, but that's a boatload of c***) to lessen his hatred and prejudice. (Had he said he was anti-G-d, that wouldn't have bothered me so much because G-d doesn't need people to believe in Him/Her -- and G-d can protect Him/Herself -- but by spreading hatred, this man could cause people to kill people.)
So back to Ms. Crow the crooner. I understand her sentiment and, to be honest, I wish it were that easy (actually, if it were that easy we'd already have peace). But over the past 60 years (and earlier), Israel has done just about everything it could for peace, but no one's joining the "party". Even our so called "friends" spread anti-Jewish sentiment. Radio Jordan, the English language radio station of Jordan that I listened to in the mid 1980s when I was in Israel, refers to Israel as the "Zionist Entity". And they're supposed to be our friend. With friends like them, well, we certainly don't need enemies (even without friends like that, we don't need enemies, but we have plenty of them and no real way to make them friends).
Ms. Crow, I agree with your desire for peace (as in the opposite of war, the opposite of missiles falling daily on the inhabitants of Sderot, the opposite of people coming into our schools and murdering our students for the crime of being Jewish). I'm just not so naive to believe that my desire will cause it to happen.
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Saturday, March 15, 2008
"What's in it for me?"
B"H
One of the first rules of negotiating is that both sides of a negotiation are looking to gain something. This is basically true of any negotiation. In order for the process to work, both parties must be dissatisfied with the status quo and, therefore, willing to compromise, give up something to gain something else.
This is why negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (whether we're talking Hammas or Fata is irrelevant) will never succeed. While Israel has a lot to gain by negotiation (and, therefore, is willing to throw in everything including the kitchen sink), the PA has nothing to gain and is therefore unwilling to toss anything into the "pot".
You see, while Israel is being pressured, attacked in the media, attacked physically and losing people every day, the PA is being supported financially, politically, and in the media and is getting unilateral concessions from Israel (e.g. the Gaza Strip -- please tell me what Israel got for giving up that area of land besides more missiles fired at population centers). Why would they want to change the status quo?
In order to get the PA to the bargaining table, we have to make it worth their while. We have to make them want to denounce violence and terrorism. The only way we can do that is to make violence and terrorism not work for them by attacking them, and attacking them hard whenever they bomb Sderot or murder teenagers in a Yeshiva or blow up a bomb on a bus or any of the other terrorist activities they perform day in and day out.
Leaders of Israel (and the rest of the free world, by the way) -- listen carefully: We are at war whether we like it or not. The enemy is attacking US. We need to fight back until they come to us wanting peace. That's the only way we will ever be able to stop the killing.
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One of the first rules of negotiating is that both sides of a negotiation are looking to gain something. This is basically true of any negotiation. In order for the process to work, both parties must be dissatisfied with the status quo and, therefore, willing to compromise, give up something to gain something else.
This is why negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (whether we're talking Hammas or Fata is irrelevant) will never succeed. While Israel has a lot to gain by negotiation (and, therefore, is willing to throw in everything including the kitchen sink), the PA has nothing to gain and is therefore unwilling to toss anything into the "pot".
You see, while Israel is being pressured, attacked in the media, attacked physically and losing people every day, the PA is being supported financially, politically, and in the media and is getting unilateral concessions from Israel (e.g. the Gaza Strip -- please tell me what Israel got for giving up that area of land besides more missiles fired at population centers). Why would they want to change the status quo?
In order to get the PA to the bargaining table, we have to make it worth their while. We have to make them want to denounce violence and terrorism. The only way we can do that is to make violence and terrorism not work for them by attacking them, and attacking them hard whenever they bomb Sderot or murder teenagers in a Yeshiva or blow up a bomb on a bus or any of the other terrorist activities they perform day in and day out.
Leaders of Israel (and the rest of the free world, by the way) -- listen carefully: We are at war whether we like it or not. The enemy is attacking US. We need to fight back until they come to us wanting peace. That's the only way we will ever be able to stop the killing.
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Friday, January 11, 2008
I Still don't Get it....
B"H
I'll admit it -- I'm a flower child, a hippie, a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal, a Feminist. I feel for the downtrodden (sometimes a bit too much -- when I'm not careful, I get totally wrapped up in sorrow and get to the point where I can't function). I believe it's important for people to cooperate rather than compete.
What I don't get is how the people who I "grew up with" -- the Liberals, the Feminists, the hippies, the flower children -- are now becoming hate-mongers. They are becoming the most virulent anti-Zionist (and, hence, the most virulent anti-Jewish people short of Osama Bin Laden and his ilk).
I'll admit it -- I'm a flower child, a hippie, a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal, a Feminist. I feel for the downtrodden (sometimes a bit too much -- when I'm not careful, I get totally wrapped up in sorrow and get to the point where I can't function). I believe it's important for people to cooperate rather than compete.
What I don't get is how the people who I "grew up with" -- the Liberals, the Feminists, the hippies, the flower children -- are now becoming hate-mongers. They are becoming the most virulent anti-Zionist (and, hence, the most virulent anti-Jewish people short of Osama Bin Laden and his ilk).
What happened to the people who questioned everything? Where are the fearless doubters of the media, the critics of evil? Did smoking grass and dropping acid (which was not part of my hippie-ism, but was a way of life for many hippies) lead to the melting of the center of the brain that defines "good" and "evil"?
I hate to say it, but lately the biggest supporters of Israel are the very same people who feel it is their job to "bring the good news" to the Jewish people. These people, while supporters of Israel, will never be totally happy until every Jew on this planet has accepted JC as his/her personal savior. These are also the same people who, in the US, are the supporters of "big business", "states rights" (a leftover buzz word from the antebellum South which used to mean "pro-slavery" but now means "lower taxes for the rich/less welfare/services/help for the poor") and welfare/services/help for the rich (as in lower taxes to big business, laxer anti-trust laws, subsidies for factory farms and non-organic farms, etc. which lead to higher prices for organically grown/sustainably grown produce).
Mind you, their current leader, Mr. Bush, has proven himself over and over again to not only NOT be a friend of Israel (and, by extension, the Jews) but to be an enemy of Israel. By his choice of and support of Condoleeza Rice he has shown his support for a Palestinian state that will only serve as a launching pad for more missiles at population centers around Israel. The Palestinians don't deserve a state -- they have proven in Gaza that they cannot govern themselves. When asked whose rule they prefer to live under, 2/3 to 3/4 of the people in areas like East Jerusalem (mind you, these people are some of the most vociferous critics of Israel and its government) state they prefer to live under Israel's rule. Some are so convinced of this, they say that if East Jerusalem or the West Bank becomes part of the Palestinian Authority they will move to areas that are part of Israel proper.
So, here I am, back in yet another US presidential election year with little hope of a candidate to call my own, so to speak. I'm leaning toward Hillary, but I'm concerned she may choose Barak Obama (who is committed to the creation of a Palestinian state) as her running mate. If I had my way, she would either choose Joseph Lieberman or Artur Davis. Artur Davis is a representative from Alabama. Generally, in my bubble in NJ, where I avoid the news like the plague, I wouldn't know thing one about a Senator from Alabama, much less a representative. But Artur Davis has shown himself to be a friend of Israel, something very rare these days among African Americans, l'da'voneinu (to our detriment) and among Liberals.
Artur Davis, in my opinion, would make the perfect running mate for Hillary Clinton. That is a ticket I could get behind. Are you reading this, Hillary????
(To see an article written by Artur Davis and a congressional colleague of his, see http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-cantor12jan12,0,6398482.story )
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Saturday, January 5, 2008
Craziness and More Craziness
B"H
This week, I heard a couple of things that just made me scratch my head in disbelief. Both had to do with the word "rape" and both are just at a level of stupidity that are impossible to comprehend.
I'm on Naomi Ragen's mailing list. Naomi Ragen is an author (I've read most of her books and love them) and writer for the Jerusalem Post. She doesn't seem to be writing much for JP these days (at least most of what I get from her list is written by others, not her). [as an aside: I totally disagree with her position on American Politics and she's VERY sensitive about people even slightly disagreeing with her position of Bush as god of American Presidents -- as in anything bad Bush does is the fault of the "left" and by extension any Democrat elected to office in the entire United States.]
This week, I received from her an absolutely bizarre article. It was about a Master's student who wrote a paper stating that she has proof that Israeli soldiers are racist because they won't rape Palestinian women. Forgetting that, of course, most Israelis are the same race as Palestinians and, therefore, even if there was something wrong with the soldiers NOT raping Palestinians, it wouldn't be racist (since most Israeli soldiers are the same race as most Palestinians).
Now, I know everyone from politicians to journalists to the anti-Zionist on the street (or, should I say anti-Jewish person????) judges Israel to different standards (as in nothing Israel does is good including trying to defend itself and its citizens), but these are the same people who, if, Has V'Shalom, G-d forbid, any Israeli soldier raped any Palestinian woman, they would be the first to condemn this action (as well they should). So why are they complaining that our "boys" DON'T rape women????
The second use of the word rape that I heard about had to do with a publisher from Israeli newspaper HaAretz (which I call Am HaAretz) told Condoleezza Rice that Israel wanted the US to "rape [us] into a settlement".
Besides my feelings of mortification over this use of such a word for such a situation (shows a total lack of respect not only for Israel but for women everywhere) and my hopes that Ms. Rice, despite previous evidence to the contrary, will not attribute this sentiment to anyone other than this raving idiot, I am appalled that anyone would say this.
I am appalled that people criticize Israel (in this case for not raping women) about its treatment of women when Israel is surrounded by countries where "honor killing" (the murder of women, mostly young women, for supposed "crimes" including being raped, being outside of their houses unescorted by a male relative, doing things her father doesn't want her to do (like dating or learning to read, for example) etc. -- men who commit these crimes rarely get more than a "slap on the wrist") and female circumcision are part of their accepted way of life. I am appalled that women's rights groups (mind you, I am and have always considered myself a feminist, though at times, including/especially now, I often wonder about other feminists) condemn Israel (not, mind you, for its treatment of Israeli women, but for its treatment of Palestinian women -- women who Israelis treat considerably better than their own "government" and their own families). Feminist conferences of late seem to spend more time condemning Israel for non-existent human rights violations than they do condemning anyone else in the world for their treatment of their own women. High on the list of "condemnees" should be all 22 (or is it 23 now if you include areas under Palestinian Authority controll???) of the Arab countries for their blatant violation of the rights of women within their countries, for "honor killings" and female circumcision, for keeping women down and illiterate, for punishing women for supposed crimes that only apply to women and not to men (including being raped) and a host of other human rights violations directed only to women.
Some might wonder why I still consider myself a feminist. A feminist is someone who believes that the rights of an individual should not be dependant on that individual's gender classification. It means the same thing even if people mislabel themselves as feminist when their only agenda is condemning one of the few civilized countries in this world. It still means the same thing even if people think it means something else, kind of like Liberal. Liberal still means someone who cares for others and isn't just concerned about the rich. Just because there are people out there who abuse the English language and coopt terminologoy doesn't mean that I can't use the words in their proper context. The only problem I have with this is that often people mistake my proper use of a word for the inproper definition others have.
As for the comments of Israel's top Am HaAretz, I can only scratch my head in disbelief. I can't imagine how anyone could say something not only that stupid from a political perspective but that inappropriate from a respect for women perspective. To use the word "rape" when talking to a female official of a foreign government is to show a total lack of any level of respect for women. To say that Israel "wants" to be raped shows a level of political flippancy that in any truly civilized world would lead to his forced resignation and his total condemnation.
One of the prophesies about the coming of Moshiah (the Messiah) is that the world will turn upside down -- right will be wrong and wrong will be right. I can only hope that what is happening today is in fulfillment of that prophesy.
This week, I heard a couple of things that just made me scratch my head in disbelief. Both had to do with the word "rape" and both are just at a level of stupidity that are impossible to comprehend.
I'm on Naomi Ragen's mailing list. Naomi Ragen is an author (I've read most of her books and love them) and writer for the Jerusalem Post. She doesn't seem to be writing much for JP these days (at least most of what I get from her list is written by others, not her). [as an aside: I totally disagree with her position on American Politics and she's VERY sensitive about people even slightly disagreeing with her position of Bush as god of American Presidents -- as in anything bad Bush does is the fault of the "left" and by extension any Democrat elected to office in the entire United States.]
This week, I received from her an absolutely bizarre article. It was about a Master's student who wrote a paper stating that she has proof that Israeli soldiers are racist because they won't rape Palestinian women. Forgetting that, of course, most Israelis are the same race as Palestinians and, therefore, even if there was something wrong with the soldiers NOT raping Palestinians, it wouldn't be racist (since most Israeli soldiers are the same race as most Palestinians).
Now, I know everyone from politicians to journalists to the anti-Zionist on the street (or, should I say anti-Jewish person????) judges Israel to different standards (as in nothing Israel does is good including trying to defend itself and its citizens), but these are the same people who, if, Has V'Shalom, G-d forbid, any Israeli soldier raped any Palestinian woman, they would be the first to condemn this action (as well they should). So why are they complaining that our "boys" DON'T rape women????
The second use of the word rape that I heard about had to do with a publisher from Israeli newspaper HaAretz (which I call Am HaAretz) told Condoleezza Rice that Israel wanted the US to "rape [us] into a settlement".
Besides my feelings of mortification over this use of such a word for such a situation (shows a total lack of respect not only for Israel but for women everywhere) and my hopes that Ms. Rice, despite previous evidence to the contrary, will not attribute this sentiment to anyone other than this raving idiot, I am appalled that anyone would say this.
I am appalled that people criticize Israel (in this case for not raping women) about its treatment of women when Israel is surrounded by countries where "honor killing" (the murder of women, mostly young women, for supposed "crimes" including being raped, being outside of their houses unescorted by a male relative, doing things her father doesn't want her to do (like dating or learning to read, for example) etc. -- men who commit these crimes rarely get more than a "slap on the wrist") and female circumcision are part of their accepted way of life. I am appalled that women's rights groups (mind you, I am and have always considered myself a feminist, though at times, including/especially now, I often wonder about other feminists) condemn Israel (not, mind you, for its treatment of Israeli women, but for its treatment of Palestinian women -- women who Israelis treat considerably better than their own "government" and their own families). Feminist conferences of late seem to spend more time condemning Israel for non-existent human rights violations than they do condemning anyone else in the world for their treatment of their own women. High on the list of "condemnees" should be all 22 (or is it 23 now if you include areas under Palestinian Authority controll???) of the Arab countries for their blatant violation of the rights of women within their countries, for "honor killings" and female circumcision, for keeping women down and illiterate, for punishing women for supposed crimes that only apply to women and not to men (including being raped) and a host of other human rights violations directed only to women.
Some might wonder why I still consider myself a feminist. A feminist is someone who believes that the rights of an individual should not be dependant on that individual's gender classification. It means the same thing even if people mislabel themselves as feminist when their only agenda is condemning one of the few civilized countries in this world. It still means the same thing even if people think it means something else, kind of like Liberal. Liberal still means someone who cares for others and isn't just concerned about the rich. Just because there are people out there who abuse the English language and coopt terminologoy doesn't mean that I can't use the words in their proper context. The only problem I have with this is that often people mistake my proper use of a word for the inproper definition others have.
As for the comments of Israel's top Am HaAretz, I can only scratch my head in disbelief. I can't imagine how anyone could say something not only that stupid from a political perspective but that inappropriate from a respect for women perspective. To use the word "rape" when talking to a female official of a foreign government is to show a total lack of any level of respect for women. To say that Israel "wants" to be raped shows a level of political flippancy that in any truly civilized world would lead to his forced resignation and his total condemnation.
One of the prophesies about the coming of Moshiah (the Messiah) is that the world will turn upside down -- right will be wrong and wrong will be right. I can only hope that what is happening today is in fulfillment of that prophesy.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
All We Need is Love
B"H
After reading my blog entries so far, you must all be convinced that I hate all Muslims. This is just not the case.
There is a story about a Medieval Rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Hanagid, who was an adviser to the Sultan. One day, while Rabbi Shmuel was walking with the Sultan, a man started cursing Rabbi Shmuel. The Sultan was outraged. He commanded Rabbi Shmuel to cut out the man's tongue.
Rabbi Shmuel couldn't cut out the man's tongue. So he thought about what he could do to change the man's mind about him. He sent him some gifts.
The next time Rabbi Shmuel was out walking with the Sultan, the man again started shouting at Rabbi Shmuel, only this time he was praising Rabbi Shmuel. The Sultan turned to him and asked, "didn't I command you to cut out that man's tongue?" Rabbi Shmuel answered him, "I did as you asked, your majesty, I cut out his cursing tongue and replaced it with a praising tongue."
I wish we could take all the people who hate Jews and hate Israel and "cut out" their cursing tongues and replace them with praising tongues. But, unfortunately, giving gifts to these people doesn't change their opinion of us for the better. It only convinces them that we are morally weak and that G-d is on their side.
There are Muslims (and former Muslims) out there who support Israel and fight the Islamofascist. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of them yet. I say yet because I see more and more people joining this group. I hear stories of people who knew even when they were young and being taught to hate Jews and Israel knew this was not right. This gives me hope for the future.
Jews say hello and good-bye with the word Shalom which means peace. We crave peace. We desire peace. We fight for peace (as oxymoronic as that sounds). Every day, at least 3 times a day, we pray for peace in the Amida and in every Whole Kaddish or Mourner's Kaddish (said many times throughout the prayer services daily), we say Oseh Shalom BiM'Romav, Hu Ya'aseh Shalom Aleinu -- may the One who makes peace on high make peace upon all of us. If we could have peace by giving gifts to our enemies, we would.
But, unfortunately, it's not that easy. We are dealing with people who are using Israel and Jews as a scapegoat. The leaders want their people to think that Israel and the Jews are the problem when in reality, it is their leaders who are causing all the horrors in their lives. It is their leaders who are keeping the money that the US, Europe and Israel (yes, Israel) are giving them for themselves rather than using that money to help the people. Instead of building schools and parks and hospitals and an infrastructure, they are using the money to build bombs and train terror murderers and spread lies about Israel. What a shame for the world that so many people are falling for those lies. And what a shame for the free world that they are giving in so easily to the enemies of liberty.
Happy Hanuka everyone. May the light of Hanuka spread to the hearts of our enemies and turn them into friends.
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After reading my blog entries so far, you must all be convinced that I hate all Muslims. This is just not the case.
There is a story about a Medieval Rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Hanagid, who was an adviser to the Sultan. One day, while Rabbi Shmuel was walking with the Sultan, a man started cursing Rabbi Shmuel. The Sultan was outraged. He commanded Rabbi Shmuel to cut out the man's tongue.
Rabbi Shmuel couldn't cut out the man's tongue. So he thought about what he could do to change the man's mind about him. He sent him some gifts.
The next time Rabbi Shmuel was out walking with the Sultan, the man again started shouting at Rabbi Shmuel, only this time he was praising Rabbi Shmuel. The Sultan turned to him and asked, "didn't I command you to cut out that man's tongue?" Rabbi Shmuel answered him, "I did as you asked, your majesty, I cut out his cursing tongue and replaced it with a praising tongue."
I wish we could take all the people who hate Jews and hate Israel and "cut out" their cursing tongues and replace them with praising tongues. But, unfortunately, giving gifts to these people doesn't change their opinion of us for the better. It only convinces them that we are morally weak and that G-d is on their side.
There are Muslims (and former Muslims) out there who support Israel and fight the Islamofascist. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of them yet. I say yet because I see more and more people joining this group. I hear stories of people who knew even when they were young and being taught to hate Jews and Israel knew this was not right. This gives me hope for the future.
Jews say hello and good-bye with the word Shalom which means peace. We crave peace. We desire peace. We fight for peace (as oxymoronic as that sounds). Every day, at least 3 times a day, we pray for peace in the Amida and in every Whole Kaddish or Mourner's Kaddish (said many times throughout the prayer services daily), we say Oseh Shalom BiM'Romav, Hu Ya'aseh Shalom Aleinu -- may the One who makes peace on high make peace upon all of us. If we could have peace by giving gifts to our enemies, we would.
But, unfortunately, it's not that easy. We are dealing with people who are using Israel and Jews as a scapegoat. The leaders want their people to think that Israel and the Jews are the problem when in reality, it is their leaders who are causing all the horrors in their lives. It is their leaders who are keeping the money that the US, Europe and Israel (yes, Israel) are giving them for themselves rather than using that money to help the people. Instead of building schools and parks and hospitals and an infrastructure, they are using the money to build bombs and train terror murderers and spread lies about Israel. What a shame for the world that so many people are falling for those lies. And what a shame for the free world that they are giving in so easily to the enemies of liberty.
Happy Hanuka everyone. May the light of Hanuka spread to the hearts of our enemies and turn them into friends.
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"Racism"
B"H
According to my on-line Webster's dictionary, Racism means:
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination
The same dictionary defines race as:
a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits
Recently, someone called a Yeshiva (a Jewish religious school) "racist" because they didn't want to admit students who weren't Jewish.
I guess the people who did this didn't know what "racist" means or that a policy of a Yeshiva to not admit non-Jewish students didn't mean it wasn't admitting African American or Eastern Asian or even Native American people. Or perhaps these people were being racist to assume that all Jews are Caucasian. As a matter of fact, at my synagogue this morning, I saw people whom I know who are in at least 2 of those three previous categories.
So why was this school accused of racism? I don't know. It makes almost as much sense as calling Israel "racist". If you were to walk through the streets of Israel, you would see people from every race. Israel has admitted people from just about every country in the world, Jews and Gentiles. Israel makes no distinction when it comes to admitting people. (A list of the groups of people who have made Israel their home would include Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroastrians, Baha'i -- it would also include Ethiopian Jews and Gentiles, Vietnamese Boat People and Black Hebrews.)
Catholic schools (or other religious schools) would, by contrast, not have an issue with admitting Jewish students. This is because they see their school as a way to convert others to their religious beliefs. Since we as Jews aren't trying to convert others, we see Gentile students in our school as "people who are trying to convert our children to their religion" and this is something we are trying to avoid by sending our children to Yeshivot (plural of Yeshiva).
I have noticed that people, especially people who hate, have a tendency to accuse others of doing what they do, for example, if you are a liar, you think everyone is a liar. There was a basketball player who a few years back made a nasty comment about Jews, accusing us of trying to convert everyone to Judaism! I'm sure that any of you who either are converts to Judaism, have friends (or relatives) who are converts or are in the process of converting would have a major chuckle about that. The ironies of this statement are many, but the two most glaring ironies are:
1) Jews not only don't encourage people to convert to Judaism, we try to discourage them -- we know it's harder to be Jewish and we don't want someone to go from being a good Gentile (who is responsible for the 7 Noahide laws) to being a no-so-good Jew (who is responsible for 613 laws, including keeping kosher, keeping Shabbat and keeping the family purity laws, none of which are required of Gentiles). This, in our world view, is not good for a person's souls and we don't want to adversely affect a person's soul.
2) Over the Centuries, people of other religions have tried to convert us to their religions. This includes the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Roman pagans, the Roman Christians, Muslims, the Catholic Church, the Spanish Inquisition, Martin Luther, Jews for J***s and other fundamentalist Christians nowadays. This list is by no means complete, just a quick overview. Many of the groups on that list used coercion including convert of die! strategies (and many Jews did die rather than convert).
It is the same logic (or lack thereof) that leads people to call Jews (and, by extension, Israel) "racist". They are just reflecting their own prejudices and presuming that we hold these prejudices too.
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According to my on-line Webster's dictionary, Racism means:
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination
The same dictionary defines race as:
a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits
Recently, someone called a Yeshiva (a Jewish religious school) "racist" because they didn't want to admit students who weren't Jewish.
I guess the people who did this didn't know what "racist" means or that a policy of a Yeshiva to not admit non-Jewish students didn't mean it wasn't admitting African American or Eastern Asian or even Native American people. Or perhaps these people were being racist to assume that all Jews are Caucasian. As a matter of fact, at my synagogue this morning, I saw people whom I know who are in at least 2 of those three previous categories.
So why was this school accused of racism? I don't know. It makes almost as much sense as calling Israel "racist". If you were to walk through the streets of Israel, you would see people from every race. Israel has admitted people from just about every country in the world, Jews and Gentiles. Israel makes no distinction when it comes to admitting people. (A list of the groups of people who have made Israel their home would include Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroastrians, Baha'i -- it would also include Ethiopian Jews and Gentiles, Vietnamese Boat People and Black Hebrews.)
Catholic schools (or other religious schools) would, by contrast, not have an issue with admitting Jewish students. This is because they see their school as a way to convert others to their religious beliefs. Since we as Jews aren't trying to convert others, we see Gentile students in our school as "people who are trying to convert our children to their religion" and this is something we are trying to avoid by sending our children to Yeshivot (plural of Yeshiva).
I have noticed that people, especially people who hate, have a tendency to accuse others of doing what they do, for example, if you are a liar, you think everyone is a liar. There was a basketball player who a few years back made a nasty comment about Jews, accusing us of trying to convert everyone to Judaism! I'm sure that any of you who either are converts to Judaism, have friends (or relatives) who are converts or are in the process of converting would have a major chuckle about that. The ironies of this statement are many, but the two most glaring ironies are:
1) Jews not only don't encourage people to convert to Judaism, we try to discourage them -- we know it's harder to be Jewish and we don't want someone to go from being a good Gentile (who is responsible for the 7 Noahide laws) to being a no-so-good Jew (who is responsible for 613 laws, including keeping kosher, keeping Shabbat and keeping the family purity laws, none of which are required of Gentiles). This, in our world view, is not good for a person's souls and we don't want to adversely affect a person's soul.
2) Over the Centuries, people of other religions have tried to convert us to their religions. This includes the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Roman pagans, the Roman Christians, Muslims, the Catholic Church, the Spanish Inquisition, Martin Luther, Jews for J***s and other fundamentalist Christians nowadays. This list is by no means complete, just a quick overview. Many of the groups on that list used coercion including convert of die! strategies (and many Jews did die rather than convert).
It is the same logic (or lack thereof) that leads people to call Jews (and, by extension, Israel) "racist". They are just reflecting their own prejudices and presuming that we hold these prejudices too.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Which witch is which?
B"H
It says in Shmot (Exodus) "Mahashefa al tikhye" -- a witch will not live. I think it's interesting that despite this admonition, and the general negative feelings about witches in the Tanakh (Jewish bible), it is fictional stories about witches that most show Torah ethics for the late 20th Century/early 21st Century generations.
The popular ideology of late states that there is no such thing as good and evil -- it is all relative. There is a strong "ethic" (if I can use that word for it) pushing moral relativism. "Moral Relativism" basically holds that there is no "good" or "evil", everything is relative and must be taken within the context of the setting or the society it happens in.
The Tora and people of strong moral fiber know this is not the case. There are absolutes of "good" and "evil". Murder is evil, this is why it is called "murder" and not "killing". "Killing" can be justified; "Murder" cannot. This is why the Tora says "you shall not murder" not, despite multiple inaccurate translations, "you shall not kill".
As I mentioned in a previous entry in this blog, J.K. Rowling, in her Harry Potter series, makes it quite clear that there is morality, there is a system of "good" and "evil" and there are absolutes of each. Lord Voldemort is evil, not because of who he is or what his standing the in the community is. He is evil because he chooses to kill and destroy and subjugate others.
Perhaps not as popular as the Harry Potter series, but equally moral in its message, is the television program "Charmed". "Charmed" is about three sisters who are witches. They use their powers to demons and warlocks (the powers of evil). They make no bones about their mission in this world -- they are here to fight evil. Throughout the years this series was in first run (it is currently shown in reruns) the sisters "vanquished" (which, basically, means killed) demons and other evil beings. These demons were looking for power and would kill anyone who got in their way (or people who could give them power).
What I loved about "Charmed" was that they were unapologetic about the sisters' work. The program didn't get wishy-washy. Even when it seemed counter-intuitive, they fought evil.
And that is what we need to do. We need to realize that there is only one way to defeat evil -- we need to destroy evil. As long as evil is out there, we are in danger. Both "Charmed" and "Harry Potter" ended their series with good triumphing over evil and a look into the future -- a future without evil.
This said to me that the fight, no matter how horrible it is, is worth the effort. It is worthwhile to do whatever necessary to destroy evil and return Good in the essential sense. It is the Platonic Good, the ideal Good, the quintessential Good. And, after all, isn't that what we all want?
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Witches and Morality
It says in Shmot (Exodus) "Mahashefa al tikhye" -- a witch will not live. I think it's interesting that despite this admonition, and the general negative feelings about witches in the Tanakh (Jewish bible), it is fictional stories about witches that most show Torah ethics for the late 20th Century/early 21st Century generations.
The popular ideology of late states that there is no such thing as good and evil -- it is all relative. There is a strong "ethic" (if I can use that word for it) pushing moral relativism. "Moral Relativism" basically holds that there is no "good" or "evil", everything is relative and must be taken within the context of the setting or the society it happens in.
The Tora and people of strong moral fiber know this is not the case. There are absolutes of "good" and "evil". Murder is evil, this is why it is called "murder" and not "killing". "Killing" can be justified; "Murder" cannot. This is why the Tora says "you shall not murder" not, despite multiple inaccurate translations, "you shall not kill".
As I mentioned in a previous entry in this blog, J.K. Rowling, in her Harry Potter series, makes it quite clear that there is morality, there is a system of "good" and "evil" and there are absolutes of each. Lord Voldemort is evil, not because of who he is or what his standing the in the community is. He is evil because he chooses to kill and destroy and subjugate others.
Perhaps not as popular as the Harry Potter series, but equally moral in its message, is the television program "Charmed". "Charmed" is about three sisters who are witches. They use their powers to demons and warlocks (the powers of evil). They make no bones about their mission in this world -- they are here to fight evil. Throughout the years this series was in first run (it is currently shown in reruns) the sisters "vanquished" (which, basically, means killed) demons and other evil beings. These demons were looking for power and would kill anyone who got in their way (or people who could give them power).
What I loved about "Charmed" was that they were unapologetic about the sisters' work. The program didn't get wishy-washy. Even when it seemed counter-intuitive, they fought evil.
And that is what we need to do. We need to realize that there is only one way to defeat evil -- we need to destroy evil. As long as evil is out there, we are in danger. Both "Charmed" and "Harry Potter" ended their series with good triumphing over evil and a look into the future -- a future without evil.
This said to me that the fight, no matter how horrible it is, is worth the effort. It is worthwhile to do whatever necessary to destroy evil and return Good in the essential sense. It is the Platonic Good, the ideal Good, the quintessential Good. And, after all, isn't that what we all want?
Check out my newest squidoo lens:
Witches and Morality
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Peace Demonstration
B"H
I heard after Shabbat yesterday that there was a peace demonstration in Israel. I found this rather amusing, mostly in the ironic sense. It kind of struck me as amusing in the same way it would strike me as amusing for a child to throw a tantrum until there was snow on the ground. The government of Israel can't make peace any more than the child's parents can make it snow.
There's a saying (I'm not sure who originated it, but it is so true): "If the Arabs put down their guns tomorrow, there would be no conflict. If the Israelis put down their guns tomorrow, there would be no Israel." This isn't just a bit of doggerel -- it's very, very true.
The roots of this "conflict" are in the corrupt demagogues who rule the area and the rabid anti-Jewish feelings the pervade the earth. Because there are only about 15 million Jews in a world of six and a half billion people (with most of the Jews concentrated in the US -- mostly the Northeast, Florida and California -- and Israel -- Only 5 countries have Jewish populations greater than 1% of their population and in no countries do Jews make up more than 2.5% of the population), most people in the world have never met a single Jew in their entire lives. They depend on the media for their view of the Jews and Israel (mind you, the entire population of Israel is barely over 7 million with Jews making up less than 5.5 million).
It is amazing that so many people see the Jews (who make up about .2% of the world's population) and Israel (which is populated by barely over .1% of the world's population in an area that is less than .15% of the world's land mass*) as the central "problem" of the world.
But this world view stems from the inability (or unwillingness) of the leaders of the surrounding countries to give their people a reasonable standard of living. The leaders of most of the countries in the Middle East are corrupt and self-centered. They need to get the minds of their people away from blaming them for their poverty and their harsh lives. Toward this end, they give the people something and someone to hate, a scapegoat to direct all their vitriol toward. That something is Israel and those someones are the Jews.
If the people in the countries that surround Israel were ever to ween themselves from the constant nursing at the breast of hatred they might actually notice that the people in Israel have the highest standard of living in the Middle East. They would notice that in Israel, all are welcome (whereas the rest of the Middle East, for all intents and purposes, is Judenrein[free of Jews] and relatively free of Christians and other non-Muslims), in Israel we agree to disagree without killing our detractors, in Israel women are not treated like chattel. And their leaders are afraid of this. So, in order to keep their people "in place", they feed them a consistent diet of hatred.
Despite this unvarying diet of animosity, there are people who are realizing that Israel is the solution not the problem. There are Muslims and former Muslims (like Salmon Rushdie, Irshad Manji, Nonie Darwish and others) and non-Muslims who grew up in Muslim countries or spent a lot of time around Muslims (like Brigitte Gabriel, Joseph Farrah and the late Oriana Fallaci) who are raising their voices and working hard to bring true peace to the world.
It is unfortunate that it will probably take war to reach that true peace because it will only be through war that we will be able to show the majority of Muslims that their lives don't have to be horrible. We need to be in a position to show these people that Islam can be a religion of peace and that everyone prospers when we all live in peace. But as long as these countries are governed by unscrupulous men who don't have their people's best interests at heart there can never be true peace.
* These percentages mean that there are about 2 Jews for every 1000 people in the world and 1 Israeli for every 1000 non-Israelis and that Israel has 1 1/2 square kilometers for every 1000 square miles in the world. By way of comparison, there are 50 Americans per 1000 people in the world, about 323 Christians per 1000 people and about almost 170 Muslims per 1000 people on earth.
I heard after Shabbat yesterday that there was a peace demonstration in Israel. I found this rather amusing, mostly in the ironic sense. It kind of struck me as amusing in the same way it would strike me as amusing for a child to throw a tantrum until there was snow on the ground. The government of Israel can't make peace any more than the child's parents can make it snow.
There's a saying (I'm not sure who originated it, but it is so true): "If the Arabs put down their guns tomorrow, there would be no conflict. If the Israelis put down their guns tomorrow, there would be no Israel." This isn't just a bit of doggerel -- it's very, very true.
The roots of this "conflict" are in the corrupt demagogues who rule the area and the rabid anti-Jewish feelings the pervade the earth. Because there are only about 15 million Jews in a world of six and a half billion people (with most of the Jews concentrated in the US -- mostly the Northeast, Florida and California -- and Israel -- Only 5 countries have Jewish populations greater than 1% of their population and in no countries do Jews make up more than 2.5% of the population), most people in the world have never met a single Jew in their entire lives. They depend on the media for their view of the Jews and Israel (mind you, the entire population of Israel is barely over 7 million with Jews making up less than 5.5 million).
It is amazing that so many people see the Jews (who make up about .2% of the world's population) and Israel (which is populated by barely over .1% of the world's population in an area that is less than .15% of the world's land mass*) as the central "problem" of the world.
But this world view stems from the inability (or unwillingness) of the leaders of the surrounding countries to give their people a reasonable standard of living. The leaders of most of the countries in the Middle East are corrupt and self-centered. They need to get the minds of their people away from blaming them for their poverty and their harsh lives. Toward this end, they give the people something and someone to hate, a scapegoat to direct all their vitriol toward. That something is Israel and those someones are the Jews.
If the people in the countries that surround Israel were ever to ween themselves from the constant nursing at the breast of hatred they might actually notice that the people in Israel have the highest standard of living in the Middle East. They would notice that in Israel, all are welcome (whereas the rest of the Middle East, for all intents and purposes, is Judenrein[free of Jews] and relatively free of Christians and other non-Muslims), in Israel we agree to disagree without killing our detractors, in Israel women are not treated like chattel. And their leaders are afraid of this. So, in order to keep their people "in place", they feed them a consistent diet of hatred.
Despite this unvarying diet of animosity, there are people who are realizing that Israel is the solution not the problem. There are Muslims and former Muslims (like Salmon Rushdie, Irshad Manji, Nonie Darwish and others) and non-Muslims who grew up in Muslim countries or spent a lot of time around Muslims (like Brigitte Gabriel, Joseph Farrah and the late Oriana Fallaci) who are raising their voices and working hard to bring true peace to the world.
It is unfortunate that it will probably take war to reach that true peace because it will only be through war that we will be able to show the majority of Muslims that their lives don't have to be horrible. We need to be in a position to show these people that Islam can be a religion of peace and that everyone prospers when we all live in peace. But as long as these countries are governed by unscrupulous men who don't have their people's best interests at heart there can never be true peace.
* These percentages mean that there are about 2 Jews for every 1000 people in the world and 1 Israeli for every 1000 non-Israelis and that Israel has 1 1/2 square kilometers for every 1000 square miles in the world. By way of comparison, there are 50 Americans per 1000 people in the world, about 323 Christians per 1000 people and about almost 170 Muslims per 1000 people on earth.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Imagine......
B"H
Imagine:
Police in New York arming burglers and theives in hopes that they will fight with (and kill) all the murderers and rapists on the streets.
Imagine:
Mexico starts bombing Southern Texas, killing people, including children, and putting the people in Southern Texas in fear of their lives. Mexico claims they are doing this because the US took Texas in an illegal war.
Imagine:
Young Canadian men and women strap bombs to their bodies and detonate them in the middle of crowded US places like Grand Central Station in New York, a McDonald's in Chicago, and an Atlanta Braves games. They are protesting, we are told, the US "annexation" of the states of Oregon and Washington.
How long do you think the US government would stand for these things?
So why is Israel expected to give guns to the terrorist Fatah organization? Why is Israel expected to give land (NOT, mind you, give BACK, since it never belonged to the Palestinians in the first place) to their enemies who will use the land to bomb Israel, like they are using the land formerly known as Gush Katif. Why is Israel expected to open its land up to people who are trying to kill Israel's people, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, Zoroastrian and just about every religion on the planet, with homicide bombs?
Israel is held to a different standard from all the other countries in the world. For some reason, the world feels the need to allow Israel's enemies to do whatever they want. They feel the need to kowtow to the Islamofascists and criticize Israel for everything Israel does (and even fabricate lies to add to the criticism while ignoring example after example of Palestinian horror).
I can't really understand this. Why do people think that if they allow the Islamofascists free reign the Islamofascists will leave them alone?
At the New England Holocaust Memorial is a poem (attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)):
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
The people of the world need to realize that just as the Islamofascists have subjugated the people of Afghanistan, Iran, and are working on subjugating the people of France, Italy, Scandinavia, Holland and many other countries in Europe, just as the people of India know, and many people in Israel and the US know, the Islamofascist will not stop with Israel! They are intent on turning the world into one gigantic Sharia government. And unless we stop them, unless we stand up to them, unless we fight them with everything we have, that's just what they are going to do.
People who value freedom and liberty need to fight and need to vote in leaders who know the importance of the fight. After 9/11, so many people knew what had to be done. Why have they forgotten in the space of 6 years? Nothing has changed except the urgency of the fight and the urgency of the victory.
Check out my new Squidoo lens about the Jewish Calendar:
About the Jewish Calendar
Check out my Cafe Press merchandise (with original graphic images on them):
Check out the Strong Jewish Women and Wearable Art merchandise and get a discount! Use FRFAM2007 coupon code.
Imagine:
Police in New York arming burglers and theives in hopes that they will fight with (and kill) all the murderers and rapists on the streets.
Imagine:
Mexico starts bombing Southern Texas, killing people, including children, and putting the people in Southern Texas in fear of their lives. Mexico claims they are doing this because the US took Texas in an illegal war.
Imagine:
Young Canadian men and women strap bombs to their bodies and detonate them in the middle of crowded US places like Grand Central Station in New York, a McDonald's in Chicago, and an Atlanta Braves games. They are protesting, we are told, the US "annexation" of the states of Oregon and Washington.
How long do you think the US government would stand for these things?
So why is Israel expected to give guns to the terrorist Fatah organization? Why is Israel expected to give land (NOT, mind you, give BACK, since it never belonged to the Palestinians in the first place) to their enemies who will use the land to bomb Israel, like they are using the land formerly known as Gush Katif. Why is Israel expected to open its land up to people who are trying to kill Israel's people, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, Zoroastrian and just about every religion on the planet, with homicide bombs?
Israel is held to a different standard from all the other countries in the world. For some reason, the world feels the need to allow Israel's enemies to do whatever they want. They feel the need to kowtow to the Islamofascists and criticize Israel for everything Israel does (and even fabricate lies to add to the criticism while ignoring example after example of Palestinian horror).
I can't really understand this. Why do people think that if they allow the Islamofascists free reign the Islamofascists will leave them alone?
At the New England Holocaust Memorial is a poem (attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)):
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
The people of the world need to realize that just as the Islamofascists have subjugated the people of Afghanistan, Iran, and are working on subjugating the people of France, Italy, Scandinavia, Holland and many other countries in Europe, just as the people of India know, and many people in Israel and the US know, the Islamofascist will not stop with Israel! They are intent on turning the world into one gigantic Sharia government. And unless we stop them, unless we stand up to them, unless we fight them with everything we have, that's just what they are going to do.
People who value freedom and liberty need to fight and need to vote in leaders who know the importance of the fight. After 9/11, so many people knew what had to be done. Why have they forgotten in the space of 6 years? Nothing has changed except the urgency of the fight and the urgency of the victory.
Check out my new Squidoo lens about the Jewish Calendar:
About the Jewish Calendar
Check out my Cafe Press merchandise (with original graphic images on them):
Check out the Strong Jewish Women and Wearable Art merchandise and get a discount! Use FRFAM2007 coupon code.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Why Do the PMs all have Major Brain Leak?
B"H
I'm trying to figure out why the people in the Prime Minister's position in Israel are so stupid. Maybe I'm missing something. But I can't understand it.
The first time I was in Israel, Shimon Peres was PM and he spoke to the people in my program. I was overwhelmed with one feeling about him as he spoke -- what a total jerk he was. I know many politicians aren't quite Rhodes Scholars, but Peres really struck me as being totally full of himself, totally unconcerned about anything outside himself, and just totally empty of basic knowledge.
Now when I say "basic knowledge", I mean things like basic history. For example, they don't seem to know, or tend to forget, about another terrorist (who was palsy-walsy with The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) who decided that the "final solution" to the "Jewish problem" was to "liquidate" all the Jews. I wonder if Peres, Sharon and Olmert would have given Hitler all he wanted. I'm kind of glad they weren't around during the pre-WWII (and early WWII) era or we all might not be here period.
But we don't even have to go back to WWII to see the folly of giving land to the Palestinian Authority. All we have to do is go back a couple of years to the time when the Israeli government handed over Gush Katif on a silver platter. There were no concessions made by the PA for this. The good people of Gush Katif, who bravely acted as a buffer zone between Palestinian missiles and the rest of the Israeli population while turning the dessert of Gaza into a short-lived paradise, were unceremoniously removed from their homes, homes the Israeli government had encouraged them to build. Many of these people are still living as refugees, paying mortgages on homes that don't even exist anymore.
And how did the PA repay us for such an altruistic, one-sided show of magnanimity? They rewarded us by turning our former paradise into a war zone, a place from which to lob bombs as a premium for our largess.
So why, pray tell, are the leaders of the free world encouraging Olmert to make the same mistake again? Why is the world so quick to repeat the mistakes of Gaza, of Oslo, of Munich? Haven't we yet learned that evil people will never be satisfied with our beneficence? Why must we repeat the same mistakes over and over and over again ad nauseum (and until the literal end of the world, at the rate we are going)? Why can't we find leaders who are intelligent enough to understand that the PA is only one part of the Islamofascist puzzle. Al Qaida, the PA, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Aksa, Fatah -- all are different names of tentacles of the evil octopus. And our world won't be safe until the entire monster is destroyed.
I'm trying to figure out why the people in the Prime Minister's position in Israel are so stupid. Maybe I'm missing something. But I can't understand it.
The first time I was in Israel, Shimon Peres was PM and he spoke to the people in my program. I was overwhelmed with one feeling about him as he spoke -- what a total jerk he was. I know many politicians aren't quite Rhodes Scholars, but Peres really struck me as being totally full of himself, totally unconcerned about anything outside himself, and just totally empty of basic knowledge.
Now when I say "basic knowledge", I mean things like basic history. For example, they don't seem to know, or tend to forget, about another terrorist (who was palsy-walsy with The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) who decided that the "final solution" to the "Jewish problem" was to "liquidate" all the Jews. I wonder if Peres, Sharon and Olmert would have given Hitler all he wanted. I'm kind of glad they weren't around during the pre-WWII (and early WWII) era or we all might not be here period.
But we don't even have to go back to WWII to see the folly of giving land to the Palestinian Authority. All we have to do is go back a couple of years to the time when the Israeli government handed over Gush Katif on a silver platter. There were no concessions made by the PA for this. The good people of Gush Katif, who bravely acted as a buffer zone between Palestinian missiles and the rest of the Israeli population while turning the dessert of Gaza into a short-lived paradise, were unceremoniously removed from their homes, homes the Israeli government had encouraged them to build. Many of these people are still living as refugees, paying mortgages on homes that don't even exist anymore.
And how did the PA repay us for such an altruistic, one-sided show of magnanimity? They rewarded us by turning our former paradise into a war zone, a place from which to lob bombs as a premium for our largess.
So why, pray tell, are the leaders of the free world encouraging Olmert to make the same mistake again? Why is the world so quick to repeat the mistakes of Gaza, of Oslo, of Munich? Haven't we yet learned that evil people will never be satisfied with our beneficence? Why must we repeat the same mistakes over and over and over again ad nauseum (and until the literal end of the world, at the rate we are going)? Why can't we find leaders who are intelligent enough to understand that the PA is only one part of the Islamofascist puzzle. Al Qaida, the PA, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Aksa, Fatah -- all are different names of tentacles of the evil octopus. And our world won't be safe until the entire monster is destroyed.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Vietnam and My Generation
B"H
I grew up in the Vietnam era. By the time I was old enough to know, most of us knew that the war in Vietnam was a huge mistake. We had seen the footage on TV. We heard about the massacres of civilians. Our side, we thought, had never massacred civilians before. We learned about all the terrible things that were happening and we protested. We protested with rallies, we protested with letters to the editor or articles, we protested with songs. And the more we protested, the more we felt that war was just not the best way to resolve any issue.
As a matter of fact, in my opinion, the Vietnam War and its predecessor, the Korean War, did a lot to damage the heroic image of the military in the US.
World War II was the classic war of Good vs. Evil. Hitler epitomized the evil in this world and, while his partners in war (Mussolini of Italy and Tojo of Japan) weren't quite as evil as he was, the US and its allies had right on their side to the extent that they were fighting this evil. And after WWII, people saw war as a way to deal with evil, a way to fight the enemies of righteousness, liberty and freedom.
Unfortunately, most of the people who are around today didn't live through WWII. Most of the information we have about war is from M*A*S*H, the very popular TV show (from a movie that came from a book) about doctors in the Korean War. Though the program took place during the Korean War, we all knew in out heart of hearts that they were really talking about the Vietnam War.
And that left us with a bad impression of war. Part of that impression is well-deserved. War, after all, is fought by young men (and women), people who have their whole lives ahead of them unless their lives are cut tragically short. War causes destruction of lives and of property leaving many people dead and many more homeless and mourning dead relatives.
But there are times when war is necessary. And, because of the bad taste Vietnam and Korea left in our collective mouths, and on our collective psyches, people have a hard time understanding this. They have a hard time understanding that, had Israel lost any of the wars it has been involved in, from the 1948 War of Independence, to the 1956 Sinai Campaign, the 6 Day War of 1967, the 1973 Yom Kippur War and on and on to the recent Lebanon War, Israel would have ceased to exist.
So Israel is condemned for defending itself. But that's not the only issue with war in the recent past. The US and Israel both need to fight to survive. We need to fight evil in every form.
But because we in the US fought an unfortunate war that lasted for over 10 years and was broadcast into our living rooms in every gory detail, people still think, as Benjamin Franklin said, that there's never been a good war or a bad peace. But I disagree with both ends of that statement. WWII was a good war. What we have now with terrorists and Islamofascists is a bad peace.
And, so, we need to see that Vietnam is not the only face of war. We need to realize that in some cases, war is the only answer. We cannot afford to allow our distaste of war to cloud our judgment. We need to be strong and show the enemies of freedom that they can't get away with threatening our lives and our way of life. We need to be the Supermen and fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way. And we need to do it now.
I grew up in the Vietnam era. By the time I was old enough to know, most of us knew that the war in Vietnam was a huge mistake. We had seen the footage on TV. We heard about the massacres of civilians. Our side, we thought, had never massacred civilians before. We learned about all the terrible things that were happening and we protested. We protested with rallies, we protested with letters to the editor or articles, we protested with songs. And the more we protested, the more we felt that war was just not the best way to resolve any issue.
As a matter of fact, in my opinion, the Vietnam War and its predecessor, the Korean War, did a lot to damage the heroic image of the military in the US.
World War II was the classic war of Good vs. Evil. Hitler epitomized the evil in this world and, while his partners in war (Mussolini of Italy and Tojo of Japan) weren't quite as evil as he was, the US and its allies had right on their side to the extent that they were fighting this evil. And after WWII, people saw war as a way to deal with evil, a way to fight the enemies of righteousness, liberty and freedom.
Unfortunately, most of the people who are around today didn't live through WWII. Most of the information we have about war is from M*A*S*H, the very popular TV show (from a movie that came from a book) about doctors in the Korean War. Though the program took place during the Korean War, we all knew in out heart of hearts that they were really talking about the Vietnam War.
And that left us with a bad impression of war. Part of that impression is well-deserved. War, after all, is fought by young men (and women), people who have their whole lives ahead of them unless their lives are cut tragically short. War causes destruction of lives and of property leaving many people dead and many more homeless and mourning dead relatives.
But there are times when war is necessary. And, because of the bad taste Vietnam and Korea left in our collective mouths, and on our collective psyches, people have a hard time understanding this. They have a hard time understanding that, had Israel lost any of the wars it has been involved in, from the 1948 War of Independence, to the 1956 Sinai Campaign, the 6 Day War of 1967, the 1973 Yom Kippur War and on and on to the recent Lebanon War, Israel would have ceased to exist.
So Israel is condemned for defending itself. But that's not the only issue with war in the recent past. The US and Israel both need to fight to survive. We need to fight evil in every form.
But because we in the US fought an unfortunate war that lasted for over 10 years and was broadcast into our living rooms in every gory detail, people still think, as Benjamin Franklin said, that there's never been a good war or a bad peace. But I disagree with both ends of that statement. WWII was a good war. What we have now with terrorists and Islamofascists is a bad peace.
And, so, we need to see that Vietnam is not the only face of war. We need to realize that in some cases, war is the only answer. We cannot afford to allow our distaste of war to cloud our judgment. We need to be strong and show the enemies of freedom that they can't get away with threatening our lives and our way of life. We need to be the Supermen and fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way. And we need to do it now.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Evolution, Revolution
B"H
I am currently reading a book about the Darwin awards. These awards are given to people who, by their own stupidity, take themselves out of the gene pool. It's a generally enjoyable and informative book that is easy to read in the facilities. But I got to a segment this morning that really bothered me. The authors of this book decided to use this chapter as a platform to make fun of people who don't treat the theory of evolution as "halakhat Tora mi'sinai" (the law of the Tora given "on high" to Moses on Mount Sinai).
I'm as scientific as the next person (Math and Science were my best subjects in school -- with history a close third), but I have a problem with people acting as though evolution (a theory, remember?) is definitely true and the Tora is definitely false (they then act, by extension, as though anyone who believes in G-d or follows any religion is a fool).
Granted, most of the people who are acting this way have only been exposed to the Christian version of the creation story and the fundamentalist interpretation (which is that the Tora version is totally literal).
I have to admit that I wasn't there when the world came into being, but, then again, neither were any of the scientists who bow down at the altar of evolution. So my version of what happened is no less valid than their version. (Keep in mind, science thinkers, our knowledge of science is far from complete -- much of what we "knew" just 50 years ago has been debunked or replaced. How do you know we won't find something in the next 50 years that will make people who swallowed the "evolution" theory whole look like fools?)
This is my version, more or less. G-d created the world. Over time (which was short for G-d but long for us) G-d created the stars and the planets, the nebulae and the galaxies, the sun and the stars and the moons. Then (S)He turned to Earth and began creating life on earth. G-d started with plant life (because that would be food for animal life and it makes sense to put the food on the table before you invite the guests). Then G-d moved on to the animal life, the lower animals, creepy crawlies and water life, then reptiles (in there, at some point, was the age of the dinosaurs), then birds, then mammals and then people. When G-d wrote the Tora to describe all this, (S)He used time terms that people could comprehend, using the model of a week, so that (S)He could give people a forced rest on the 7th day by saying "even G-d rested on the 7th day". This, of course, is metaphorical. G-d doesn't need to rest (and, for all intents and purposes, can't since G-d is the One who runs the show, so to speak.)
Now, I have to tell you. I don't label people who don't believe this version "fools" or "heretics". Nobody who is alive today was there then, so no one knows for sure. I believe that G-d wrote the Tora, so I believe that every word in the Tora is true. But I also know that the Tora is made up of two parts -- the written and the oral Tora. Without the Oral Tora, the written Tora doesn't make sense. It's as though you read your roommates notes to a lecture class -- you really don't understand the notes without the lecture.
My point in all this is why do people feel that it's either one or the other? Why do people think they have to reject one story for the other? I suppose this comes down to the fundamentalist way of looking at the "bible". There are people out there who believe the "bible" is meant to be taken literally (something that is nearly impossible to do, IMHO). The strangest part of this is that they believe that it is meant to be taken literally as it is translated, into English, in the King James version! That is, not only is it meant to be taken literally, but it's meant to be taken literally in a language it wasn't even written in!
Hebrew is a very rich language, with nuances of meaning that just can't be captured in a translation. For example, it says that the Children of Israel came out of Egypt "Hamushim". The commentaries come up with at least two meanings for this word -- armed, or 1/5 (from the same root as Hamesh, which means 5, Hamsa, which is supposed to represent the hand of G-d, and Humash, the Hebrew word for the 5 books of Moses). Another example is the Hebrew word "Et". "Et" is a preposition that really has no meaning in English (or any other language I've been exposed to except Hebrew). I can't come up with a translation for it, but I know when I'm writing or speaking where it belongs in a sentence. In the Tora, there are usually additional meanings gleaned from the word "Et" -- as in the commandment "Kabeid Et Aviha V'Et Imeha" "Honor your father and mother" -- the "Et"s there are said to represent grandparents or older siblings.
So what is the "take home" message I'm aiming for here? I guess it's threefold:
1) The Tora (and "bible") are not meant to be taken literally
2) There is no reason one can't believe in both the Tora ("bible") version of creation and evolution
3) The Tora and Science are parts of the same whole -- G-d created them both. And, therefore, they can't be contradictory. I agree with Maimonides on this -- if you find a contradiction, you must be misunderstanding or misinterpreting either the science or the Tora.
I am currently reading a book about the Darwin awards. These awards are given to people who, by their own stupidity, take themselves out of the gene pool. It's a generally enjoyable and informative book that is easy to read in the facilities. But I got to a segment this morning that really bothered me. The authors of this book decided to use this chapter as a platform to make fun of people who don't treat the theory of evolution as "halakhat Tora mi'sinai" (the law of the Tora given "on high" to Moses on Mount Sinai).
I'm as scientific as the next person (Math and Science were my best subjects in school -- with history a close third), but I have a problem with people acting as though evolution (a theory, remember?) is definitely true and the Tora is definitely false (they then act, by extension, as though anyone who believes in G-d or follows any religion is a fool).
Granted, most of the people who are acting this way have only been exposed to the Christian version of the creation story and the fundamentalist interpretation (which is that the Tora version is totally literal).
I have to admit that I wasn't there when the world came into being, but, then again, neither were any of the scientists who bow down at the altar of evolution. So my version of what happened is no less valid than their version. (Keep in mind, science thinkers, our knowledge of science is far from complete -- much of what we "knew" just 50 years ago has been debunked or replaced. How do you know we won't find something in the next 50 years that will make people who swallowed the "evolution" theory whole look like fools?)
This is my version, more or less. G-d created the world. Over time (which was short for G-d but long for us) G-d created the stars and the planets, the nebulae and the galaxies, the sun and the stars and the moons. Then (S)He turned to Earth and began creating life on earth. G-d started with plant life (because that would be food for animal life and it makes sense to put the food on the table before you invite the guests). Then G-d moved on to the animal life, the lower animals, creepy crawlies and water life, then reptiles (in there, at some point, was the age of the dinosaurs), then birds, then mammals and then people. When G-d wrote the Tora to describe all this, (S)He used time terms that people could comprehend, using the model of a week, so that (S)He could give people a forced rest on the 7th day by saying "even G-d rested on the 7th day". This, of course, is metaphorical. G-d doesn't need to rest (and, for all intents and purposes, can't since G-d is the One who runs the show, so to speak.)
Now, I have to tell you. I don't label people who don't believe this version "fools" or "heretics". Nobody who is alive today was there then, so no one knows for sure. I believe that G-d wrote the Tora, so I believe that every word in the Tora is true. But I also know that the Tora is made up of two parts -- the written and the oral Tora. Without the Oral Tora, the written Tora doesn't make sense. It's as though you read your roommates notes to a lecture class -- you really don't understand the notes without the lecture.
My point in all this is why do people feel that it's either one or the other? Why do people think they have to reject one story for the other? I suppose this comes down to the fundamentalist way of looking at the "bible". There are people out there who believe the "bible" is meant to be taken literally (something that is nearly impossible to do, IMHO). The strangest part of this is that they believe that it is meant to be taken literally as it is translated, into English, in the King James version! That is, not only is it meant to be taken literally, but it's meant to be taken literally in a language it wasn't even written in!
Hebrew is a very rich language, with nuances of meaning that just can't be captured in a translation. For example, it says that the Children of Israel came out of Egypt "Hamushim". The commentaries come up with at least two meanings for this word -- armed, or 1/5 (from the same root as Hamesh, which means 5, Hamsa, which is supposed to represent the hand of G-d, and Humash, the Hebrew word for the 5 books of Moses). Another example is the Hebrew word "Et". "Et" is a preposition that really has no meaning in English (or any other language I've been exposed to except Hebrew). I can't come up with a translation for it, but I know when I'm writing or speaking where it belongs in a sentence. In the Tora, there are usually additional meanings gleaned from the word "Et" -- as in the commandment "Kabeid Et Aviha V'Et Imeha" "Honor your father and mother" -- the "Et"s there are said to represent grandparents or older siblings.
So what is the "take home" message I'm aiming for here? I guess it's threefold:
1) The Tora (and "bible") are not meant to be taken literally
2) There is no reason one can't believe in both the Tora ("bible") version of creation and evolution
3) The Tora and Science are parts of the same whole -- G-d created them both. And, therefore, they can't be contradictory. I agree with Maimonides on this -- if you find a contradiction, you must be misunderstanding or misinterpreting either the science or the Tora.
Mennonite Company and Israel
B"H
Our local Jewish newspaper's lead story this week was about a store in our community called "Ten Thousand Villages". This store is a franchise (it might be lurking in your community too). It is owned by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).
Investigation by the newspaper into the policies of this organization began with a local Jewish resident who went into the store and found out that the store doesn't buy from Israel or China. She understood why they would not want to buy from China (China's record of human rights violations and trade abuses is well known), but why Israel (and why was Israel the only other country included in their ban)? This was especially vexing because this store's policy included Jewish Israel in their ban but not "Palestine".
Without going into the litany of lies and misinformation this group is spreading about Israel (it is extensive and it appears to me in the article that this group is very dangerous -- I did a google for their site and searched "Israel" there and got this list of articles about Israel) but lies and misinformation aside, I'm at a loss to explain something....
I grew up in the 60s -- I was part of the pacifist anti-war generation. I understand the pacifist perspective and, for the most part, agree with it (though I withhold my pacifism when the choice is "fight or be killed", but I digress....). So I am totally floored when a group of people who is supposedly dedicated to pacifism supports a group of people whose only recent "contribution" to society as a whole has been war, killing, destroying and just general mayhem.
This group of people took the Gaza areas of Gush Katif which were thriving with farms and beautiful homes and turned it into a barren area, devoid of vegetation, used it then (and use it now) and a launching pad for missiles (which they use to attack and kill Israeli citizens, including children) and a training area for terrorists. This is what they do with land that was handed over to them on a silver platter. They didn't have to promise (much less keep the promise) to recognize Israel and condemn terrorism.
But the Mennonite Central Committee in its infinite "wisdom" has decided that these warlike people are more deserving of financial (and moral -- boy, is the the wrong word for the Palestinians or what????) support than the peaceful citizens of the State of Israel, a Sovereign state, a member of the United Nations since they've been a nation, a seeker of peace, a defender of its own people, who, I might add, include Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'i (this peaceful religion thinks so highly of Israel that its world headquarters is in the Israeli port city of Haifa), includes people of all racial and national origins, and, while it is a Jewish state (the only Jewish State in the world in an area of land about the size of New Jersey), has pretty much universal suffrage and politicians from all ethnic groups, a country that is a standout in the area of Human Rights in a part of the world where Human Rights violations are so common they aren't even questioned.
By throwing their support behind the evil regimes of the Palestinians, the Mennonite Central Committee places itself squarely in the camp of the liars, the haters, and the war mongers. And, as long as they do that, we have to make sure we never give them a cent of our hard earned money. We can't be sure it won't go to support our enemies and the enemies of the free world.
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Our local Jewish newspaper's lead story this week was about a store in our community called "Ten Thousand Villages". This store is a franchise (it might be lurking in your community too). It is owned by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).
Investigation by the newspaper into the policies of this organization began with a local Jewish resident who went into the store and found out that the store doesn't buy from Israel or China. She understood why they would not want to buy from China (China's record of human rights violations and trade abuses is well known), but why Israel (and why was Israel the only other country included in their ban)? This was especially vexing because this store's policy included Jewish Israel in their ban but not "Palestine".
Without going into the litany of lies and misinformation this group is spreading about Israel (it is extensive and it appears to me in the article that this group is very dangerous -- I did a google for their site and searched "Israel" there and got this list of articles about Israel) but lies and misinformation aside, I'm at a loss to explain something....
I grew up in the 60s -- I was part of the pacifist anti-war generation. I understand the pacifist perspective and, for the most part, agree with it (though I withhold my pacifism when the choice is "fight or be killed", but I digress....). So I am totally floored when a group of people who is supposedly dedicated to pacifism supports a group of people whose only recent "contribution" to society as a whole has been war, killing, destroying and just general mayhem.
This group of people took the Gaza areas of Gush Katif which were thriving with farms and beautiful homes and turned it into a barren area, devoid of vegetation, used it then (and use it now) and a launching pad for missiles (which they use to attack and kill Israeli citizens, including children) and a training area for terrorists. This is what they do with land that was handed over to them on a silver platter. They didn't have to promise (much less keep the promise) to recognize Israel and condemn terrorism.
But the Mennonite Central Committee in its infinite "wisdom" has decided that these warlike people are more deserving of financial (and moral -- boy, is the the wrong word for the Palestinians or what????) support than the peaceful citizens of the State of Israel, a Sovereign state, a member of the United Nations since they've been a nation, a seeker of peace, a defender of its own people, who, I might add, include Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'i (this peaceful religion thinks so highly of Israel that its world headquarters is in the Israeli port city of Haifa), includes people of all racial and national origins, and, while it is a Jewish state (the only Jewish State in the world in an area of land about the size of New Jersey), has pretty much universal suffrage and politicians from all ethnic groups, a country that is a standout in the area of Human Rights in a part of the world where Human Rights violations are so common they aren't even questioned.
By throwing their support behind the evil regimes of the Palestinians, the Mennonite Central Committee places itself squarely in the camp of the liars, the haters, and the war mongers. And, as long as they do that, we have to make sure we never give them a cent of our hard earned money. We can't be sure it won't go to support our enemies and the enemies of the free world.
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Free Elections
B"H
I went this morning to vote, as I do twice a year (once for the primaries and once for the general election). It's something that as an American, I take for granted. I also take for granted that no one is going to arrest me, beat me up, kill me or generally cause me pain or injury for whom I vote.
On my way home (we live less than three blocks from the polling place, so I walked), I was thinking about elections. You see, it's not elections that make a free society, it's a free and secret election. Only in an election where your vote is totally secret and totally your choice can elections be totally free.
Dictatorships make a show of being part of a free society by staging elections. Much of the time, there isn't even another candidate -- it's just a "yes" or "no" vote and woe be it to anyone who votes "no"!
Even in the elections in the Palestinian territories where Hamas won the elections against Fatah, the election was rigged because people feared for their lives if they voted for Fatah. And, lest you think this was like an election between John Kerry and George W. Bush, Fatah is no more a partner for peace than Hamas.
The thing is that in the Western world, we are so used to secret ballots that we don't realize what the enemies of liberty are doing. We hear the world "election" and we think freedom. But elections aren't free if there's no secret ballot. Elections aren't free if the "politicians" use terror tactics to force people to vote for them. Elections aren't free if there really is no choice.
So, next time you hear of an "election" in a country where there never were elections before, check to see if there's really a choice. And check to see if the people are really the ones choosing. If these elements aren't there, you know the "election" is only for show.
Check out my squidoo lenses:
Strong Biblical Women
Hanuka
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
I went this morning to vote, as I do twice a year (once for the primaries and once for the general election). It's something that as an American, I take for granted. I also take for granted that no one is going to arrest me, beat me up, kill me or generally cause me pain or injury for whom I vote.
On my way home (we live less than three blocks from the polling place, so I walked), I was thinking about elections. You see, it's not elections that make a free society, it's a free and secret election. Only in an election where your vote is totally secret and totally your choice can elections be totally free.
Dictatorships make a show of being part of a free society by staging elections. Much of the time, there isn't even another candidate -- it's just a "yes" or "no" vote and woe be it to anyone who votes "no"!
Even in the elections in the Palestinian territories where Hamas won the elections against Fatah, the election was rigged because people feared for their lives if they voted for Fatah. And, lest you think this was like an election between John Kerry and George W. Bush, Fatah is no more a partner for peace than Hamas.
The thing is that in the Western world, we are so used to secret ballots that we don't realize what the enemies of liberty are doing. We hear the world "election" and we think freedom. But elections aren't free if there's no secret ballot. Elections aren't free if the "politicians" use terror tactics to force people to vote for them. Elections aren't free if there really is no choice.
So, next time you hear of an "election" in a country where there never were elections before, check to see if there's really a choice. And check to see if the people are really the ones choosing. If these elements aren't there, you know the "election" is only for show.
Check out my squidoo lenses:
Strong Biblical Women
Hanuka
Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Monday, November 5, 2007
"Perfect" Jews
B"H
I know I'm slow on the uptake when it comes to news (this is because I'm not a news hound and I depend on my best friend to keep me abreast of anything important). I just heard from her about Anne Coulter and her comment about what she considered a "perfect world". She said that to her, the NY Republican convention was the perfect place, everyone happy, republican and Christian (mind you, I can't imagine there would be anything that big in NY without any Jews, but we'll go on from here.....) The interviewer, who just happened to be Jewish, asked her about Judaism and Jews and she said that they needed to "perfect" the Jews.
"Perfect" us? If I didn't know this was code (J4J code, that is) for "converting" us, I would be wondering what in heck she meant. Well, for those of you who didn't know, "perfecting" Jews means converting us to Christianity. After all, in their eyes, it doesn't matter how you live your life. It doesn't matter if you are a good person or a bad person, if you accept JC as your "personal savior" then you will go to heaven when you die and if you don't accept JC as your "personal savior" then you will burn for all eternity in the pits of hell. (Mind you, Dante, in his book "The Inferno" -- part of his "Divine Comedy" -- shows most of hell as being icy and cold, like evil people's cold hearts, but I digress).
A Rabbi I know told a story about a cousin of his who was a Rabbi in Jerusalem and he was walking with his students on Ben Yehuda Street, a pedestrian mall area in the center of Jerusalem. It was the "holiday" season (that is, the winter holiday season). There was a man in middle of the pedestrian area talking about the "Good News" he wanted to share. The Rabbi decided to talk to this man himself, rather than have one of his students "shoo" the man. He went over and engaged the "Good Newsler". "So," the Rabbi asked, "what is this 'good news'?" "Oh," said the Good Newsler, "that 'he' died for our sins. And if you accept 'him', you will go to heaven!". "Oh, that's interesting," said the Rabbi. "I have a question for you -- the Neurenberg criminals, who were responsible for the murder of millions of people, went to mass before they were hanged. Where did they go after they died?" "Oh," said the Good Newsler, "they went straight to heaven." The Rabbi continued his question,"and the 1.5 million Jewish babies who the Nazis murdered, where did they go?" The Good Newsler answered, "they went to hell." The Rabbi smiled. "Well, I have to tell you, if I have a choice between going to heaven with Nazi war criminals and going to hell with 1.5 million Jewish babies, I'd rather be in hell."
As I said in my last blog entry, Christians don't seem to get it. It's funny (that's funny ironic, not funny "ha,ha") that Christians don't seem to realize that without Judaism there is no Christianity. Christianity is based on Judaism. But Christianity contradicts the Tora, so it can't be true.
I ask Christians (who are open to talking to me about it) if they believe in the "Old Testament" and they generally tell me that, yes, they do. And I ask them if they believe in the "New Testament" and they generally tell me that, yes, they do. So I tell them that if you believe in the "New Testament", you must believe that an Omniscient, Omnipresent G-d changed His/Her mind. If G-d changes His/Her mind, how do you know when (S)He stops? How do you know that the Muslims aren't right, or the Mormons?
I then tell them that I know what I believe is right because G-d doesn't change His/Her mind. The Tora is it.
So in our mind, "perfection" or "perfecting" ourselves (tikkun in Hebrew) means moving the observances of our lives more into sync with the Tora, not less. We perfect ourselves and the world (tikkun olam) by trying our hardest to do what Hashem (G-d) wants of us as stated in the Tora.
Perfection in the Tora view would be achieved only when the entire world starts keeping the Tora, the Gentiles keeping their mitzvot (laws) and Jews keeping our mitzvot.
Check out my article about Hanuka:
Hanuka
I know I'm slow on the uptake when it comes to news (this is because I'm not a news hound and I depend on my best friend to keep me abreast of anything important). I just heard from her about Anne Coulter and her comment about what she considered a "perfect world". She said that to her, the NY Republican convention was the perfect place, everyone happy, republican and Christian (mind you, I can't imagine there would be anything that big in NY without any Jews, but we'll go on from here.....) The interviewer, who just happened to be Jewish, asked her about Judaism and Jews and she said that they needed to "perfect" the Jews.
"Perfect" us? If I didn't know this was code (J4J code, that is) for "converting" us, I would be wondering what in heck she meant. Well, for those of you who didn't know, "perfecting" Jews means converting us to Christianity. After all, in their eyes, it doesn't matter how you live your life. It doesn't matter if you are a good person or a bad person, if you accept JC as your "personal savior" then you will go to heaven when you die and if you don't accept JC as your "personal savior" then you will burn for all eternity in the pits of hell. (Mind you, Dante, in his book "The Inferno" -- part of his "Divine Comedy" -- shows most of hell as being icy and cold, like evil people's cold hearts, but I digress).
A Rabbi I know told a story about a cousin of his who was a Rabbi in Jerusalem and he was walking with his students on Ben Yehuda Street, a pedestrian mall area in the center of Jerusalem. It was the "holiday" season (that is, the winter holiday season). There was a man in middle of the pedestrian area talking about the "Good News" he wanted to share. The Rabbi decided to talk to this man himself, rather than have one of his students "shoo" the man. He went over and engaged the "Good Newsler". "So," the Rabbi asked, "what is this 'good news'?" "Oh," said the Good Newsler, "that 'he' died for our sins. And if you accept 'him', you will go to heaven!". "Oh, that's interesting," said the Rabbi. "I have a question for you -- the Neurenberg criminals, who were responsible for the murder of millions of people, went to mass before they were hanged. Where did they go after they died?" "Oh," said the Good Newsler, "they went straight to heaven." The Rabbi continued his question,"and the 1.5 million Jewish babies who the Nazis murdered, where did they go?" The Good Newsler answered, "they went to hell." The Rabbi smiled. "Well, I have to tell you, if I have a choice between going to heaven with Nazi war criminals and going to hell with 1.5 million Jewish babies, I'd rather be in hell."
As I said in my last blog entry, Christians don't seem to get it. It's funny (that's funny ironic, not funny "ha,ha") that Christians don't seem to realize that without Judaism there is no Christianity. Christianity is based on Judaism. But Christianity contradicts the Tora, so it can't be true.
I ask Christians (who are open to talking to me about it) if they believe in the "Old Testament" and they generally tell me that, yes, they do. And I ask them if they believe in the "New Testament" and they generally tell me that, yes, they do. So I tell them that if you believe in the "New Testament", you must believe that an Omniscient, Omnipresent G-d changed His/Her mind. If G-d changes His/Her mind, how do you know when (S)He stops? How do you know that the Muslims aren't right, or the Mormons?
I then tell them that I know what I believe is right because G-d doesn't change His/Her mind. The Tora is it.
So in our mind, "perfection" or "perfecting" ourselves (tikkun in Hebrew) means moving the observances of our lives more into sync with the Tora, not less. We perfect ourselves and the world (tikkun olam) by trying our hardest to do what Hashem (G-d) wants of us as stated in the Tora.
Perfection in the Tora view would be achieved only when the entire world starts keeping the Tora, the Gentiles keeping their mitzvot (laws) and Jews keeping our mitzvot.
Check out my article about Hanuka:
Hanuka
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Jewish Sandwich
B"H
Last night, I was one of the privileged few (I heard 15 hundred???) who was part of Brigitte Gabriel's conference call "town meeting". I missed the beginning (I was talking to my best friend), but I was on the phone listening (with the mute on the phone) for over a half hour.
Brigitte Gabriel's organization, American Congress for Truth, is trying to defeat Islamofascism in the United States and the World. For that I applaud her and the organization.
But as a Jew (in particular, an Orthodox Zionistic Jew) I have an issue. The issue is not specifically with Brigitte. We have for centuries had to deal with hatred and people wanting to destroy us and most of the time they fell into one of two categories: the Hamans of the world (represented by Purim), who wanted to destroy our bodies, and the Antiochuses of the world (represented by Hanuka), who wanted to destroy our souls.
Hitler was a Haman. Torquemada, for all the Jews whose murder he had a hand in, was an Antiochus.
But in this century we have to deal with both Haman and Antiochus. The Muslims want to kill us like Haman and the Christians, with all their "love bombing" and deceptive Messianic tactics, like Antiochus, want our souls.
This puts us in a very strange position. Politics makes strange bedfellows and for us right now we have to "to go bed", so to speak, with the Christian right, the very people who are after our souls with their financial support of Jews for Jesus, because they are the people in the US who are actually supportive of Israel. These are the people who visit Israel, who get up on their Radio and Television shows and promote Israel. These are the people who are working on fighting the Islamofascists, the ones who lauded Israel for attacking terrorists in the south of (the Syrian puppet regime of) Lebanon.
But these are also the people who are trying to convert us. These are the people who think that their quickest route to heaven is by converting Jews. These are the people who believe we will burn in hell for all eternity. And these are the people, who, in their heart of hearts, believe that when Jesus "returns" in his "second coming", those of us who don't join them in the final war of Armageddon will die.
These are the people who use the word "crusade" to describe a holy mission against the Muslims. But what they either don't know or choose to forget is that for us Jews, the Crusades were hardly a picnic. Just as we are today, we were sandwiched between the two big religious "super powers".
What neither side seems to understand (probably because both sides are so entrenched in societies where their religion holds sway to the extent that they don't need to analyze other ideas) is that there is a very good reason that Jews have historically not converted. Obviously, it's not because we lived in societies where OUR religion held sway. So maybe, just maybe, there's something more to Judaism than either "side" wants to admit. Maybe, just maybe, our way of life is so meaningful that we just don't want to live any other way. But as a Rabbi I know once said, it's like being inside a circle and all the people inside the circle understand what's great about the circle. But the people outside the circle don't understand. And they probably never will until they come into the circle, if only for a short time.
Judaism, unlike Christianity and Islam, doesn't claim that its adherents have a corner on truth, justice or goodness. We don't say that if you aren't Jewish you will "burn in hell for all eternity". That's because we don't have to scare people into following our Tora. The Tora has a special place for Gentiles. There are laws that non-Jews are responsible for. These are basically moral laws, like not murdering (yes, murdering -- it doesn't say in the 10 "commandments" that you shall not kill, it says you shall not MURDER), not stealing, not having inappropriate sexual relations (like adultery and incest), setting up courts, not worshiping idols, not pulling a limb off a live animal, etc.
We don't need to scare people into following our Tora because we know that following the Tora is to everyone's benefit. From my perspective, you only need to scare people into following your religion if you instinctively know it's not the truth.
So what can we do? How can we protect ourselves from the two pieces of bread in the Jewish Sandwich? I don't know. But one thing I do know -- we can't protect ourselves by giving away our land or by arming our enemies or by ignoring the missionaries. We can't protect ourselves by ignoring the Tora. And we can't protect ourselves by turning our backs on G-d.
Strong Jewish Women Merchandise
More of my writing:
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Last night, I was one of the privileged few (I heard 15 hundred???) who was part of Brigitte Gabriel's conference call "town meeting". I missed the beginning (I was talking to my best friend), but I was on the phone listening (with the mute on the phone) for over a half hour.
Brigitte Gabriel's organization, American Congress for Truth, is trying to defeat Islamofascism in the United States and the World. For that I applaud her and the organization.
But as a Jew (in particular, an Orthodox Zionistic Jew) I have an issue. The issue is not specifically with Brigitte. We have for centuries had to deal with hatred and people wanting to destroy us and most of the time they fell into one of two categories: the Hamans of the world (represented by Purim), who wanted to destroy our bodies, and the Antiochuses of the world (represented by Hanuka), who wanted to destroy our souls.
Hitler was a Haman. Torquemada, for all the Jews whose murder he had a hand in, was an Antiochus.
But in this century we have to deal with both Haman and Antiochus. The Muslims want to kill us like Haman and the Christians, with all their "love bombing" and deceptive Messianic tactics, like Antiochus, want our souls.
This puts us in a very strange position. Politics makes strange bedfellows and for us right now we have to "to go bed", so to speak, with the Christian right, the very people who are after our souls with their financial support of Jews for Jesus, because they are the people in the US who are actually supportive of Israel. These are the people who visit Israel, who get up on their Radio and Television shows and promote Israel. These are the people who are working on fighting the Islamofascists, the ones who lauded Israel for attacking terrorists in the south of (the Syrian puppet regime of) Lebanon.
But these are also the people who are trying to convert us. These are the people who think that their quickest route to heaven is by converting Jews. These are the people who believe we will burn in hell for all eternity. And these are the people, who, in their heart of hearts, believe that when Jesus "returns" in his "second coming", those of us who don't join them in the final war of Armageddon will die.
These are the people who use the word "crusade" to describe a holy mission against the Muslims. But what they either don't know or choose to forget is that for us Jews, the Crusades were hardly a picnic. Just as we are today, we were sandwiched between the two big religious "super powers".
What neither side seems to understand (probably because both sides are so entrenched in societies where their religion holds sway to the extent that they don't need to analyze other ideas) is that there is a very good reason that Jews have historically not converted. Obviously, it's not because we lived in societies where OUR religion held sway. So maybe, just maybe, there's something more to Judaism than either "side" wants to admit. Maybe, just maybe, our way of life is so meaningful that we just don't want to live any other way. But as a Rabbi I know once said, it's like being inside a circle and all the people inside the circle understand what's great about the circle. But the people outside the circle don't understand. And they probably never will until they come into the circle, if only for a short time.
Judaism, unlike Christianity and Islam, doesn't claim that its adherents have a corner on truth, justice or goodness. We don't say that if you aren't Jewish you will "burn in hell for all eternity". That's because we don't have to scare people into following our Tora. The Tora has a special place for Gentiles. There are laws that non-Jews are responsible for. These are basically moral laws, like not murdering (yes, murdering -- it doesn't say in the 10 "commandments" that you shall not kill, it says you shall not MURDER), not stealing, not having inappropriate sexual relations (like adultery and incest), setting up courts, not worshiping idols, not pulling a limb off a live animal, etc.
We don't need to scare people into following our Tora because we know that following the Tora is to everyone's benefit. From my perspective, you only need to scare people into following your religion if you instinctively know it's not the truth.
So what can we do? How can we protect ourselves from the two pieces of bread in the Jewish Sandwich? I don't know. But one thing I do know -- we can't protect ourselves by giving away our land or by arming our enemies or by ignoring the missionaries. We can't protect ourselves by ignoring the Tora. And we can't protect ourselves by turning our backs on G-d.
Strong Jewish Women Merchandise
More of my writing:
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Monday, October 29, 2007
Harry Potter and the current world situation
B"H
There are too many people out there who don't understand the concept of good vs. evil. Thankfully, J. K. Rowling gave us a road map. Her road map is not on that calls for the destruction of Israel and the free world to the Islamofascists of the world. Her road map is a guide not only to what constitutes good and what constitutes evil, her road map is a guide for the destruction of evil and the ultimate triumph of good.
If the leaders of the free world had read Harry Potter the way millions of children, teenagers and even adults had, they might see that while Harry Potter is a magnificently crafted children's story, a modern fairy tale, it is also an allegory of the millennia-old battles between good and evil.
Lord Voldemort, the main villain in the Harry Potter books, tries to blur the lines. He tries to convince Harry that there is truly no good or evil, only power. But Harry's fight throughout the series is not simply with Lord Voldemort, it is also within himself.
When Harry begins Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry he and the other "first year" students are separated into houses by the "sorting hat". While the hat is on Harry's head, the hat says that he can't decide whether to place Harry in Gryffindor house, the house of the most valiant wizards, or Slytherin house, the house where Lord Voldemort and most of his followers came from. Harry says over and over "not Slytherin" so the hat places him in Gryffindor. Later on, when Harry asks Dumbledore, the school's headmaster and Harry's mentor, why he was put in Gryffindor and not Slytherin, Dumbledore tells him it was because he used his force of will -- that HE, Harry, had asked for it. In other words, it's not the situation you are born into that shows who and what you are, it's the decisions you make in your life. In other words, day in and day out we have decisions to make and it is these decisions that show our "house", so to speak. It is our decisions that show who we are.
Many people in the world take the easy way out. They think they can placate evil by doing what evil asks of them. But what they don't realize or don't want to realize is that evil can never be placated. Hitler proved this at Munich, Arafat proved this when Barak offered him 95% of what he asked for and his answer was to start the intifada, the Islamofascists of Hamas and Fatah have proven this by turning the thriving Gaza community of Gush Katif into a launching pad for missiles, Al Qaida proved it when they destroyed historic statues in Afghanistan. Evil shows it's evil by its actions. And good needs to defeat evil. And this does not happen with negotiations. This does not happen with wimpy "all for show" military engagements. This only happens when the standard bearers for good are willing to fight an all out war with evil, a war like the final battle of the final installment of the Harry Potter saga. Only that sort of war will clear the way for good to triumph.
There are too many people out there who don't understand the concept of good vs. evil. Thankfully, J. K. Rowling gave us a road map. Her road map is not on that calls for the destruction of Israel and the free world to the Islamofascists of the world. Her road map is a guide not only to what constitutes good and what constitutes evil, her road map is a guide for the destruction of evil and the ultimate triumph of good.
If the leaders of the free world had read Harry Potter the way millions of children, teenagers and even adults had, they might see that while Harry Potter is a magnificently crafted children's story, a modern fairy tale, it is also an allegory of the millennia-old battles between good and evil.
Lord Voldemort, the main villain in the Harry Potter books, tries to blur the lines. He tries to convince Harry that there is truly no good or evil, only power. But Harry's fight throughout the series is not simply with Lord Voldemort, it is also within himself.
When Harry begins Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry he and the other "first year" students are separated into houses by the "sorting hat". While the hat is on Harry's head, the hat says that he can't decide whether to place Harry in Gryffindor house, the house of the most valiant wizards, or Slytherin house, the house where Lord Voldemort and most of his followers came from. Harry says over and over "not Slytherin" so the hat places him in Gryffindor. Later on, when Harry asks Dumbledore, the school's headmaster and Harry's mentor, why he was put in Gryffindor and not Slytherin, Dumbledore tells him it was because he used his force of will -- that HE, Harry, had asked for it. In other words, it's not the situation you are born into that shows who and what you are, it's the decisions you make in your life. In other words, day in and day out we have decisions to make and it is these decisions that show our "house", so to speak. It is our decisions that show who we are.
Many people in the world take the easy way out. They think they can placate evil by doing what evil asks of them. But what they don't realize or don't want to realize is that evil can never be placated. Hitler proved this at Munich, Arafat proved this when Barak offered him 95% of what he asked for and his answer was to start the intifada, the Islamofascists of Hamas and Fatah have proven this by turning the thriving Gaza community of Gush Katif into a launching pad for missiles, Al Qaida proved it when they destroyed historic statues in Afghanistan. Evil shows it's evil by its actions. And good needs to defeat evil. And this does not happen with negotiations. This does not happen with wimpy "all for show" military engagements. This only happens when the standard bearers for good are willing to fight an all out war with evil, a war like the final battle of the final installment of the Harry Potter saga. Only that sort of war will clear the way for good to triumph.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Repeating Bad Mistakes
B"H
I believe it was Einstein who said that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
I realize that it doesn't exactly take a Rhodes Scholar to be president of the United States (though we have had one). And it doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to be Prime Minister of Israel. But even these esteemed leaders ought to be able to figure out after the Gaza debacle that "peace talks" with Hamas and Fata and discussions about carving up Israel proper and Jerusalem will not bring peace with the "Palestinian Authority".
It is quite clear that the only way we could possibly have peace with "elected" terrorist dictatorship of Gaza is to defeat them in an all-out, not holds bar war. Until we show them that their actions have consequences, they will never stop doing them.
For some absolutely bizarre reason which I cannot fathom, the world seems to think that giving the "Palestinians" what they say they want will get them to leave everyone alone. But since Al Qaida has stated their goal is to make the world into one big unhappy Sharia state the world is either so blinded by hatred of Jews or just so incredibly stupid as to think that these terror mongers can be appeased by a few acres of land. These people will not be happy until they own the world. Which, G-d willing, will be never.
But if, G-d forbid, they ever got what they wanted, it would be the end of the world because having the world and ruling the world are altogether different things. Hamas already has Gaza. And what are they doing with it? Nothing really. They are not using it to build homes for Palestinian refugees. They are not establishing a peaceful state, building schools, hospitals, and a general infrastructure for their people.
When Jews resettled Israel, they spent their time and effort building a country. That country has its problems, but it generally runs well and gives its people the services they need to survive. The same cannot be said for Gaza. Gaza is a case study, a laboratory experiment in terrorist statehood. And that experiment is a dismal failure. Is the Gaza experiment what we want for the whole of Israel? Is it what we want for the whole world? If we don't want the entire world or even the entire Israel to turn into the failed experiment named "Gaza" we must work hard to elect intelligent, aware leaders. The French, despite their dismal history in this regard, have taken a giant step in the right direction by electing a leader who may just help them solve their internal and external terrorism issues. We in the US and Israel need to do the same.
I believe it was Einstein who said that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
I realize that it doesn't exactly take a Rhodes Scholar to be president of the United States (though we have had one). And it doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to be Prime Minister of Israel. But even these esteemed leaders ought to be able to figure out after the Gaza debacle that "peace talks" with Hamas and Fata and discussions about carving up Israel proper and Jerusalem will not bring peace with the "Palestinian Authority".
It is quite clear that the only way we could possibly have peace with "elected" terrorist dictatorship of Gaza is to defeat them in an all-out, not holds bar war. Until we show them that their actions have consequences, they will never stop doing them.
For some absolutely bizarre reason which I cannot fathom, the world seems to think that giving the "Palestinians" what they say they want will get them to leave everyone alone. But since Al Qaida has stated their goal is to make the world into one big unhappy Sharia state the world is either so blinded by hatred of Jews or just so incredibly stupid as to think that these terror mongers can be appeased by a few acres of land. These people will not be happy until they own the world. Which, G-d willing, will be never.
But if, G-d forbid, they ever got what they wanted, it would be the end of the world because having the world and ruling the world are altogether different things. Hamas already has Gaza. And what are they doing with it? Nothing really. They are not using it to build homes for Palestinian refugees. They are not establishing a peaceful state, building schools, hospitals, and a general infrastructure for their people.
When Jews resettled Israel, they spent their time and effort building a country. That country has its problems, but it generally runs well and gives its people the services they need to survive. The same cannot be said for Gaza. Gaza is a case study, a laboratory experiment in terrorist statehood. And that experiment is a dismal failure. Is the Gaza experiment what we want for the whole of Israel? Is it what we want for the whole world? If we don't want the entire world or even the entire Israel to turn into the failed experiment named "Gaza" we must work hard to elect intelligent, aware leaders. The French, despite their dismal history in this regard, have taken a giant step in the right direction by electing a leader who may just help them solve their internal and external terrorism issues. We in the US and Israel need to do the same.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Mets, Football and Israel
B"H
I'm a big sports fan. And, like the protagonist of the TV show "My Boys", I use a lot of sports analogies.
I'm sure by now most people have heard of the major crash and burn that happened to the Mets this baseball season. I've been a Mets fan for a very long time.
At the beginning of the year, the Mets were "the team to beat". From early in the season, they held the first place position in the Eastern Division of the National League. I was proud to be a Mets fan. But as the Mets went from 7 games ahead in the middle of September to 2nd place and out of the playoffs by the end of the season (losing 12 of their last 17 games), I went from pride to frustration and confusion.
I realized that I feel the same way about Israel and the United States. When I was growing up, Israel was the underdog, the David going against the Goliath of the Arab/Muslim countries. They defeated their enemies in wars even before I was born and when I was young -- in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973. They gained territory in these defensive wars that made their borders more defensible, reducing their military needs in the process.
The United States has been one of the world's "super powers". With the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war, the United States emerged as the super power and the standard bearer for freedom, western values, justice and equality.
But somewhere along the line, the United States and Israel started "playing" the world "game" like a strong football team playing a weak football team and only allowing their Defense to play. (In American football, teams have both Offensive squads and Defensive squads. The Offense tries to score and the Defense tries to prevent the other team from scoring. So even if the strongest football team would play the weakest football team the strongest team would easily lose if their offense didn't try to score.) The United States and Israel have become too concerned with world opinion. They've been playing "defense" when they should be playing "offense" too, for a balanced attack.
Israel should be actively fighting against the Palestinian "forces" who were given Gaza on a silver platter and are using this land not for housing for "refugees", not for government offices, not for anything to help their people but to lob bombs that are killing and maiming Jewish children and adults living in nearby communities.
And the United States is acting like a "peace keeping" force in Iraq. The US military should be permitted to "play offense" or fight this war like a war, not like a peace keeping effort. The enemy never surrendered and as such, the US in Iraq is still at war.
I remember the pride I felt as a child being a Jewish American. I remember feeling pride in Israel especially during the six-day war and the Yom Kippur war, when Israel successfully defended itself. I remember feeling pride when I hear that Israel bombed an Iraqi nuclear plant. I remember feeling pride in the US for spreading freedom throughout the world.
But today, both countries have lost their "bite", they are only allowing their defensive squad "on the field". I'm feeling the same way about my countries (The US and Israel) as I am about my Mets -- I'm still loyal. But I really wish they all would start defending themselves.
Check out my Squidoo lenses on Jewish themed topics:
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Rosh Hashana
G-d and Forgiveness
Check out my Jewish themed merchandise:
Strong Jewish Women
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I'm a big sports fan. And, like the protagonist of the TV show "My Boys", I use a lot of sports analogies.
I'm sure by now most people have heard of the major crash and burn that happened to the Mets this baseball season. I've been a Mets fan for a very long time.
At the beginning of the year, the Mets were "the team to beat". From early in the season, they held the first place position in the Eastern Division of the National League. I was proud to be a Mets fan. But as the Mets went from 7 games ahead in the middle of September to 2nd place and out of the playoffs by the end of the season (losing 12 of their last 17 games), I went from pride to frustration and confusion.
I realized that I feel the same way about Israel and the United States. When I was growing up, Israel was the underdog, the David going against the Goliath of the Arab/Muslim countries. They defeated their enemies in wars even before I was born and when I was young -- in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973. They gained territory in these defensive wars that made their borders more defensible, reducing their military needs in the process.
The United States has been one of the world's "super powers". With the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war, the United States emerged as the super power and the standard bearer for freedom, western values, justice and equality.
But somewhere along the line, the United States and Israel started "playing" the world "game" like a strong football team playing a weak football team and only allowing their Defense to play. (In American football, teams have both Offensive squads and Defensive squads. The Offense tries to score and the Defense tries to prevent the other team from scoring. So even if the strongest football team would play the weakest football team the strongest team would easily lose if their offense didn't try to score.) The United States and Israel have become too concerned with world opinion. They've been playing "defense" when they should be playing "offense" too, for a balanced attack.
Israel should be actively fighting against the Palestinian "forces" who were given Gaza on a silver platter and are using this land not for housing for "refugees", not for government offices, not for anything to help their people but to lob bombs that are killing and maiming Jewish children and adults living in nearby communities.
And the United States is acting like a "peace keeping" force in Iraq. The US military should be permitted to "play offense" or fight this war like a war, not like a peace keeping effort. The enemy never surrendered and as such, the US in Iraq is still at war.
I remember the pride I felt as a child being a Jewish American. I remember feeling pride in Israel especially during the six-day war and the Yom Kippur war, when Israel successfully defended itself. I remember feeling pride when I hear that Israel bombed an Iraqi nuclear plant. I remember feeling pride in the US for spreading freedom throughout the world.
But today, both countries have lost their "bite", they are only allowing their defensive squad "on the field". I'm feeling the same way about my countries (The US and Israel) as I am about my Mets -- I'm still loyal. But I really wish they all would start defending themselves.
Check out my Squidoo lenses on Jewish themed topics:
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Rosh Hashana
G-d and Forgiveness
Check out my Jewish themed merchandise:
Strong Jewish Women
width=125 height=30 border=0 alt="WWW.JEWISHSITES.ORG - THE JAFI Portal">
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